CE Week #1 Recovery: “Sarah Palin vs. Barack Obama”
September 01, 2008
By Gerard Baker
Democrats, between sniggers of derision and snorts of disgust, contend that Sarah Palin, John McCain’s vice-presidential pick is ridiculously unqualified to be president.
It’s a reasonable objection on its face except for this small objection: it surely needs to be weighed against the Democrats’ claim that their own candidate for president is self-evidently ready to assume the role of most powerful person on the planet.
At first blush, here’s what we know about the relative experience of the two candidates. Both are in their mid-forties and have held statewide elective office for less than four years. Both have admitted to taking illegal drugs in their youth.
So much for the similarities. How about the differences?
Political experience
Obama: Worked his way to the top by cultivating, pandering to and stroking the most powerful interest groups in the all-pervasive Chicago political machine, ensuring his views were aligned with the power brokers there.
Palin: Worked her way to the top by challenging, attacking and actively undermining the Republican party establishment in her native Alaska. She ran against incumbent Republicans as a candidate willing and able to clean the Augean Stables of her state’s government.
Political Biography
Obama: A classic, if unusually talented, greasy-pole climber. Held a succession of jobs that constitute the standard route to the top in his party’s internal politics: “community organizer”, law professor, state senator.
Palin: A woman with a wide range of interests in a well-variegated life. Held a succession of jobs – sports journalist, commercial fisherwoman, state oil and gas commissioner, before entering local politics. A resume that suggests something other than burning political ambition from the cradle but rather the sort of experience that enables her to understand the concerns of most Americans..
Political history
Obama: Elected to statewide office only after a disastrous first run for a congressional seat and after his Republican opponent was exposed in a sexual scandal. Won seat eventually in contest against a candidate who didn’t even live in the state.
Palin: Elected to statewide office by challenging a long-serving Republican incumbent governor despite intense opposition from the party.
Appeal
Obama: A very attractive speaker whose celebrity has been compared to that of Britney Spears and who sends thrills up Chris Matthews’ leg
Palin: A very attractive woman, much better-looking than Britney Spears who speaks rather well too. She sends thrills up the leg of Rush Limbaugh (and me).
Executive experience
Obama: Makes executive decisions every day that affect the lives of his campaign staff and a vast crowd of traveling journalists
Palin:Makes executive decisions every day that affect the lives of 500,000 people in her state, and that impact crucial issues of national economic interest such as the supply and cost of energy to the United States.
Religious influences
Obama: Regards people who “cling” to religion and guns as “bitter” . Spent 20 years being mentored and led spiritually by a man who proclaimed “God damn America” from his pulpit. Mysteriously, this mentor completely disappeared from public sight about four months ago.
Palin: Head of her high school Fellowship of Christian Athletes and for many years a member of the Assemblies of God congregation whose preachers have never been known to accuse the United States of deliberately spreading the AIDS virus. They remain in full public sight and can be seen every Sunday in churches across Alaska. A proud gun owner who has been known to cling only to the carcasses of dead caribou felled by her own aim.
Record of bipartisan achievement
Obama: Speaks movingly of the bipartisanship needed to end the destructive politics of “Red America” and “Blue America”, but votes in the Senate as a down-the-line Democrat, with one of the most liberal voting records in congress.
Palin: Ridiculed by liberals such as John Kerry as a crazed, barely human, Dick Cheney-type conservative but worked with Democrats in the state legislature to secure landmark anti-corruption legislation.
Former state Rep. Ethan Berkowitz – a Democrat – said. “Gov. Palin has made her name fighting corruption within her own party, and I was honored when she stepped across party lines and asked me to co-author her ethics white paper.”
On Human Life
Obama: Devoutly pro-choice. Voted against a bill in the Illinois state senate that would have required doctors to save the lives of babies who survived abortion procedures. The implication of this position is that babies born prematurely during abortions would be left alone, unnourished and unmedicated, until they died.
Palin: Devoutly pro-life. Exercised the choice proclaimed by liberals to bring to full term a baby that had been diagnosed in utero with Down Syndrome.
Now it’s true there are other crucial differences. Sen Obama has appeared on Meet The Press every other week for the last four years. He has been the subject of hundreds of adoring articles in papers and newsweeklies and TV shows and has written two Emmy-award winning books.
Gov Palin has never appeared on Meet the Press, never been on the cover of Newsweek. She presumably feels that, as a mother of five children married to a snowmobile champion, who also happens to be the first woman and the youngest person ever to be elected governor of her state, she has not really done enough yet to merit an autobiography.
Then again, I’m willing to bet that if she had authored The Grapes of Wrath, sung like Edith Piaf and composed La Traviata , she still wouldn’t have won an Emmy.
Fortunately, it will be up to the American people and not their self-appointed leaders in Hollywood and New York to determine who really has the better experience to be president.
Page Printed from: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/sarah_palin_vs_barack_obama.html at September 01, 2008 – 11:24:34 AM CDT
All this hype about the ages and experience of both Obama and Palin is getting kind of old. That seems to be all anyone talks about now that elections are nigh at hand. Not like it’s not important; of course we should elect the person who’s best qualified to run America. But even then, it’s not like the president really has that much power. There are all those checks and balances that our oh-so-dear founding fathers worked so hard to give us. Not to mention, unless McCain dies or is unable to do his job, only then will Palin be the president and even have those duties. So it’s really not too much of a priority. Though I guess McCain is kind of old, so you never know.
Sure there are advantages and disadvantages to anyone. Just because Obama and Palin are both young doesn’t mean that they can’t do a good job. They still have yet to prove otherwise as far as I know. We’ve had worse presidents, so really, what’s the worse that could happen? They both probably don’t have the greatest foreign policies, but that can be learned in Office. Plus there are all the advisors that will ensure success for either of them if they need the help. Though I’m sure that they both have a fairly good idea of what needs to be done. They also both have a fairly good idea of what needs to change in the country. Or at least Obama might. Palin will probably just go along with whatever McCain has up his sleeve.
What’s really annoying though is that both the Republican and Democrat parties are giving each other crap about the other’s choice for candidate. Both are accusing the other of choosing someone with little experience. The Democrats choice for Commander-in-Chief makes more sense then the Republican choice for vice president. As Democrats are big on change, a majority at least, it would seem as though they want some new blood for government. And they are more open and accepting of qualities that would normally disqualify someone. The Republicans, though, have branched off from their sort of stereotypical choice of an old white male, and chose a young white female. I think that threw everyone off. No one was really expecting that. And that might be a thing in their favor.
I was very excited when this author decided to write about Obama’s and Palin’s experience since both have little. When reading this article I was reminded that Jimmy Carter had just about no experience and look at how far he got. He even publicized on the fact that he was not a lawyer, southern, a farmer, not part of the Washington scene and religious. Maybe Obama will pick up some experience points because he was a law professor.
In my opinion, Palin is better than all three of the “boys” combined. She has shown that not only can she work to improve her own party; she can also work with the Democrats to help the people. Someone with this talent and cooperation needs to be in office even if she is only the vp.
Coming down to the issues, when Obama stated that people who “cling” to religion and guns as “bitter”, might just lose some votes. Most all Americans have a religion whether they cling or not, and just about anyone who hunts will obviously have a gun. I guess Obama is calling me and many millions more bitter Americans.
Overall, Obama is throwing himself in hole when criticizing his opponents vp pick when saying she has little experience. So which one is running for President?
Having a well experienced president is very important. If we had a president who has been in politics all their life and has mastered the art of politics, then they would be a good president and follow the rules and assumingly, do things right. On the other hand, however, having a president with not so much experience (only enough to know the game) would be a good president too. This person might have new fresh ideas that no “life-long” politician has had.
Nevertheless, Palin might not have that much political experience, but she is running with a man who has been through wars and seen life. Obama, I feel, is going into this race alone because his vice president is not very well known and he has no “safety net” like McCain.
Personally, I feel really bad for McCain because he is totally out of the picture. It’s mainly about Obama and Palin now. If McCain became the new president of America, would it be on behalf of Palin? Or would the reason be because people truly like McCain? The poor old man will never know! And neither will the whole country. It is amazing how much impact a vice president can have on an election.
in response to malaika: I completely agree with you that we should stop comparing Obama and Palin’s lack of experience. It seems to have become the main focus of the election which is absolutely rediculous for two reasons. One, both of them are already on the ticket so whether or not they have enough experience, they are both just one election away from the whitehouse. Whether democrats or republicans win, there will be fresh meat in the presidential office. Secondly, who are we to pass judgement on their lack of political experience; most Americans think that the biggest difference between republicans and democrats is that one is an elephant and the other is a donkey.
In my opinion both Palin and Obama have very little experience compared to McCain. Both have vastly different beliefs but i believe both have excellent qualitites to lead a coutry.
Regarding Palin, we must remember where she came from. She started at nothing and worked her way to the top. To me this shows great leadership skills to lead a nation. I do think it’s a shame that Mccain is basically out of the picture as if everyone thinks he’s going to die right after he possibly becomes president is sort of depressing.
As far as Obama, he worked very hard to get to the top. He also has lived in a third world country which to me i know he appreciates the American way of life and intends to do whatever is best for a nation. I also don’t think that just because obama has a law degree makes him qualified to run the country.
McCain on the other hand, just because he spent 5 years in a POW camp in Vietnam does not make his experience of foreig policy more qualified. I think McCains experiences show true patriotism and extreme courage and i give him immense credit for it. Then again, is he going to be able to lead a nation.
I am not able to comment on Bidden, Obamas choice for VP because he obviously is not important. Are McCains choices for VP the only reason he would be elected president?
To conclude it is difficult to really say who is more qualified than the other. I think we need to hear every aspect of a candidate and hear every side of each persons story before we make a decision.