Cheers!
Posted on 09/01/2008 7:07:07 PM PDT by Vision Thing
For all of the political comparisons Sarah Palin will inevitably draw, from New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to former Tennessee Rep. Davy Crockett, there is one Republicans are hoping will stick: Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama .
If they can turn the debate to a comparison of the resumes, records and talents of Obama and Palin — a No. 1 vs. No. 2 argument — their presidential nominee, John McCain , will come out ahead of both, they appear to believe. If it works, the device would elevate Palin’s stature, lower Obama’s and leave McCain’s unchanged.
“The choice is Obama vs. Palin, and she has done things rather than talk about things,” South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham , a close McCain confidante. “Compared to Barack Obama , she is ready to be president of the United States by a country mile.
Never mind that most voters had never heard of Palin, the rookie governor of Alaska, when she was named to McCain’s ticket last Friday. Nor do Republicans seem to be worried that many of their top elected officials have never met her.
Indeed, Republicans say they welcome a discussion of experience in the presidential debate.
“Any effort to attack Palin on experience raises the comparision with Obama, and she’s had more experience in the real world doing real things than Obama,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., said.
Republicans have taken to pointing out that Palin’s 21 months in the governor’s office and previous tenure as mayor of Wasilla, her small hometown, represent more executive experience than Obama and his running mate, longtime Delaware Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. , have together. Some add in McCain to the Senate crew for effect.
“She has far more executive experience and has been forced to balance budgets, cut projects, address corruption in an executive fashion that neither Sen. Obama nor Sen. Biden has ever done,” McCain policy director Doug Holtz-Eakin said at a lunch with reporters. “She will obviously gain experience between now and the election, and will reveal herself to be perfectly capable of doing this job. It’s common for governors to run for president and I think a standard part of that dialogue is: Is this person ready for the national stage? And in the past, we’ve decided yes. And we will again decide that with Gov. Palin.”
But pollster, political analyst and Republican Frank Luntz, the author of Words that Work, said that just pairing Obama and Palin in debate isn’t likely to net the presidency for McCain.
“They have to demonstrate that she is not just qualified and capable but intellectually and emotionally prepared to be president,” Luntz said. “She’s on her way, but she’s not there yet.”
Which is why the Donks have (temporarily) switched to attacking Palin's family.
...which will also backfire, of course.
Sarah Palin spent four years as a City Council Member for Wasilla, Alaska, six years as Mayor of Wasilla, and two years as Governor of Alaska.
FDR spent just over two years in the New York State Senate, eight years as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and four years as Governor of New York.
Theodore Roosevelt three years in the New York State Assembly, two years as Governor of New York, one year as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and less than one year as Vice President of the United States.
Woodrow Wilson spent eight years as President of Princeton University and two years as Governor of New Jersey.
Grover Cleveland spent two years as Sheriff of Erie County, two years as Mayor of Buffalo, and two years as Governor of New York.
Overall, I’d say that Palin’s background is comparable with that of several presidents considered highly successful, even considering that her state has a smaller population than the other two states on the list.
While Obama has been running for office for as long as Palin has been running a state, I find it hard to consider the two tasks as comparable preparation.
One final note: I will be posting this multiple times because I think it is important to get the word out that that her experience is in keeping with previous presidents. I apologize to those who are annoyed by seeing it too often.
Keep Posting it......also.....I believe Obama is a product of the Chicago “Machine” only. He’s a pawn.
I knew this was a genius idea when I saw the tale of the tape that was posted earlier. It was an unexpected line of attack and totally appropriate.
It’s becoming clearer by the day that team obama has no clue what to do.
You think Democrats suggesting that Sarah and her daughter both made mistakes by keeping their babies instead of killing them (pro-choice, but only for those who choose abortion) might not play as well as Kos and Obama hope? Obviously, you're not a professional. I don't know how much the guys who came up with the idea of attacking children to improve Obama's popularity made for that strategic insight, but I'm guessing it's more than either of us will ever make for a monumental blunder.
Not a problem. It's the first time I've seen it.
Invariably they will refer to the Harvard education. At that point they pull several more shovels full of dirt into the hole they have dug for themselves.
Cheers!
I hope their attacks on Sarah’s family backfire big time. Obama has campaigned on a different type of politics, and among those changes is not to get into mud slinging and demonizing opponents, I would hope.
Yup. Something tells me he is horrified by how his side is treating Bristol Palin's pregnancy. But he is powerless to do anything about it. Why? Because, as you say, he's nothing but a pawn.
You don't think Obama made it this far based on ability, experience, and a record of accomplishment - from his in-depth analyses as editor of the Harvard Law Review, to his major legislative accomplishments and leadership, and his contributions to bipartisanship as the #1 most liberal senator in the country? You must be looking at different facts from those who get a tingle up their leg or even faint at the sight of him.
What's funny is that obama has fallen into the trap: He ain't talkin' about McCain anymore. He's only talkin' about Palin.
Team McCain is playing with him in the same way that a cat is playing with a captured mouse. And we all know what cats eventually do with a captured mouse, don't we? They devour them!
> I believe Obama is a product of the Chicago “Machine” only. He’s a pawn.
That should be obvious to anyone who actually takes a look. His primary opponents (including the incumbent, if I recall) were disqualified from the ballot in order to let him slide in unopposed, when he first got into Chicago politics.
And coming to the senate, the RATs disgorged the divorce proceedings of his incumbent opponent, in order to destroy the opposition.
But I’m sure RATs think the Chicago machine is a figment of the Republican imagination. Take JFK and Daley I for instance.
Hmmmm, was he horrified when they blackmailed his opponent so that he would drop out of the Illinois State Senate race and bambi could run unopposed?
He has been involved in the corrupt Chicago political machine for several years now, he knows exactly what they are all about and approves of it by using it to advance his career. I cannot see it can be any other way unless they are somehow forcing him to run.
It'll be interesting to see how Team McCain plays this. Eventually, the attention will need to turn back to McCain. And by that time, obama will be completely exposed as someone who has insufficient experience for the Presidency.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
