Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Another reason why the Palin pick is cynical

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All three of the senator candidates have had plenty of opportunity to accrue the relevant policy background — through some combination of actual experience and study. When they are questioned about the Iraq War, health care, energy policy, federal tax and fiscal policy, &c., we can reasonably expect that they will have an answer and we can judge them by their answers.

Whatever experience that Sarah Palin has, what she doesn’t have is broad exposure to foreign and domestic policy issues. The McCain campaign answer is to say that she can learn at the master’s knee. And, for the purpose of governing, that may be true.

But, what it does is insulate her from any real examination of her grasp of foreign and domestic policy during the campaign. Nobody can reasonably expect her to get up to speed in the next 60 days. She has never been a candidate for or held national office and so has never had the need. And, unlike Bill Clinton or Obama, she hasn’t spent any time learning about domestic policy and foreign policy beyond the specific (and limited) purposes required to be a small-state governor.

Ignorance as a shield. Ignorance, not lack of intelligence. Not lack of executive experience. Not lack of character. But, simple, straightforward, explicable ignorance.

It is also probably worth noting that, unlike Obama, Clinton (either, really), and Biden and much like McCain, it appears that Palin lacks curiosity about issues broader than her pay grade.

Think about that during the lead up to October 2d as the media sets expectations for Palin and warns about how careful Biden has to be not to come across as condescending.

McCain went out and picked someone without the relevant policy experience.

If I were the Obama campaign, I would hammer away at her lack of policy expertise. Every contention that she does have policy expertise raises the bar. Every answer that she couldn’t be expected to highlights that she’s not ready for national office.

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Comments

  1. Obama’s first instinct was to create a moral equivalency – that “both sides” should “show restraint.” The same moral equivalency that he has displayed in discussing the Palestinian Authority and the State of Israel.

    Later, after discussing it with his 300 foreign policy advisers, he changed his position and suggested that the “the U.N. Security Council” could find a solution. Apparently, none of his 300 advisers told him that Russia has a veto on any U.N. action. Finally Obama put out a statement that looked … well, it looked a lot like John McCain’s.

    Here’s some free advice: Sen. Obama, next time just call John McCain.

  2. You claim

    Whether or not Obama has the practical experience to be president, he has had years acquiring knowledge about a host of foreign and domestic policy issues.

    Can you cite anything which supports this?

    <

    p>And even if true, is the acquisition of knowledge on a host of issues “experience?”  If knowledge is so important, George Shultz or James Baker should be president.  Draft John Silber!

    <

    p>A career in the US Senate is NOT the best training for the office of President.  Executive experience is preferred by the American people, at least recently post WWII — Bush, Clinton, Bush, Regan, and Carter (while Bush 41 wasn’t a governor, he ran an oil business, was Director of the CIA, and US Ambassador to China and the UN.)  Eisenhower’s executive training was as Supreme Allied Commander. Nixon/Ford, LBJ, and JFK were exceptions, with Ford and LBJ VP’s who replaced their presidents.

    <

    p>Obama’s experience base is slimmer, much slimmer — community organizer, state senator for a couple of years, US Senator not yet a single term… these are pretty weak.

    <

    p>The Republicans are attacking Obama on his lack of experience.  Since it’s true, I wouldn’t know how to defend against it.  Since it’s true, they can’t use a similar claim against McCain.  Since it’s true, every time you criticize Palin on experience, it only further highlights Obama’s lack of experience.

    <

    p>

    • The Republicans are attacking Obama on his lack of experience.

      <

      p>I’ve only seen this lately in response to attacks on Palin’s experience (and I agree with those who say we should concentrate on McCain instead). I’ve been hearing Obama words like “change” and “hope” out of McCain’s mouth more than “experience” since the Palin pick. I don’t see every speech and news report, but the experience thing is no longer a front-and-central issue coming from the Republicans.

      <

      p>I think they’ve given up on that line of attack (had to given that it wasn’t working and due to the Palin pick) and are trying to co-opt Obama’s message, trying to meld that with the Maverick thing. “Experience” apparently says “Washington” to too many people.

  3. She’s a distraction. It’s time we ignored her and talked about other things.

    <

    p>This, for instance:
    http://www.vetvoice.com/showDi…

       It was a video that was supposed to elicit soaring patriotism and real emotions about the Pledge of Allegiance. But to do that, it used fake soldiers and a staged military funeral instead of the real thing.

       CBS News found that the footage of the ‘funeral’ and soldiers is what is called ‘stock’ footage. The soldiers were actors and the funeral scene was from a one-day film shoot, produced in June. No real soldiers were used during production.

    • http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…

      On Thursday, the final night of the convention, it appears that authorities ratcheted up their attacks on both protesters and credentialed journalists, lobbing tear gas and percussion grenades into crowds and arresting student journalists, local TV photographers, Associated Press reporters, and two MyFox journalists, among others.

    • they shouldn’t be using real US military soldiers for political gain.  US soldiers aren’t to be engaging in politics while in uniform IIUC.

      <

      p>If so, actors were the only way to go.

    • Sorry – staged scenes and hippie protesters will not knock Sarah off te screen.

      <

      p>She is a sensation

  5. Watching the news this mroning on the box and net. You gotta be kidding me. Obama is restructuring his campaign because of palin? Palin is a sum zero–a nonentity—much ado about nothing, nobody cares. If Barack ignores this “flash in the pan” it will all be gone in two weeks. Oprah is apparently doing so—-I mean—if Oprah Winfrey is maintaining strict neutrality and treating Palin as a non event then Obama should follow suit.  

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