We can't decide these important affairs of state without pics o' the hotness: The winner? Clearly: But we all know McCain's choice: "Heh, heh, hey there Vietnam Dude, a little easy on the backside. I kin smell yer hemorrhoid cream and it's kind a creepin' me out. Heh."
Governing fewer people is less important than governing more people. The greater the numbers, the more complex the logistics and often the more diverse the interests. That doesn't mean that any bigger state governor is more qualified than any smaller state governor. Length of experience and competence also matter. Governing fewer people well can be worth more than governing more people poorly. She combines short experience with small populations governed. Ultimately, any managerial experience can be cited; anti-Obama types seem amused by his citing the amount of people in his campaign that he's managed (which is actually greater than the number of people Palin governed in Wasilla)...would you devalue that, or consider it "executive experience"? If not, why not? Because the people aren't called a "city" or "state"? As for her competence in governance, that's pretty subjective. But experience combined with size of her constituency is pretty lack-luster. And she has nothing in the way of experience with diplomacy. So, she may or may not do a good job as VP or President, but what evidence is there right now that she would?
Not worthless, I just don't think it's comparable in any way to being president or vice president. In fairness, I'm not sure there's anything comparable to being president or vice president. Probably nobody is truly prepared for that job until they start doing it. I personally think that "experience" is sort of overrated as a presidential campaign attribute anyway. (If "experience" is so important, let's just roll out Robert Byrd! Or the corpse of Strom Thurmond!) That said, some kinds of preparation are probably more relevant than others. Palin's (brief) experience as the governor of an extremely small state counts (to me) for much more than her experience as the mayor of a tiny town. But someone who has been the governor of a large state (or maybe even mayor of a large city) with a more complex social, political, and economic structure, and more complex problems to deal with, would have "better" experience in my book. Being governor of Alaska for almost two years isn't worthless, but it is the least distinguished resume for a vice presidential candidate in more than 100 years. SR
FWIW, Arkansas has a population of 2.8M, smaller than many cities in the nation. EDIT: cities == metropolitan areas, 18 larger to be exact.
And still 4X the size of Alaska. But my beef with Plain is not her experience, it's what she stands for. She is hard core conservative who, in my book, would consider banning books, extreme when it comes to pro-life (any circumstance unless mother's life in danger), vindictive, not a reformer but just another politican, not extremely bright, possible religious fanatic and one posters will rip on me but she comes across as fake to me.
If by "many" you mean two, New York and LA. Maybe three; I'm not sure if Chicago is slightly bigger than Arkansas or vice versa. But yeah, I would argue that if we're judging candidates on the basis of "experience," Clinton was pretty poor as well. Obama, too. Again, I think it's a very overrated criterion for judging who will be a good president. I don't oppose Palin because I think she's "inexperienced," I oppose her because I think she's wrong about everything. SR
I'm not saying no experience, obviously some. But her and Obama are not saviors, just politicans selling their shtick.
Yeah, again, for the 18th time, I don't think "experience" is a good measure of who will make a good president or VP. It's clearly not one of Obama's stronger suits, or Palin's. If "experience" is what matters, vote McCain, absolutely. I think if you look at past presidents, there is little or no correlation between "experience" and success in office. Lincoln had virtually no "experience," Hoover and Nixon had tons. Who was more successful? That's the case I wish Republicans would make for Palin. Instead we get these frankly embarrassing arguments that "she has more executive experience than the other candidates combined." Well, so does my student body president. Whoop-de-damn-doo. SR
Well, the whole basis of this thread is the lack of experience of Palin, hence my bringing it up. I don't think its a necessity...but for the VP slot, its always been a choice of filling out a demographic versus actual qualifications.
Yeah, I'm sort of arguing on two planes here. 1. Palin has little meaningful experience. To the extent that someone wants to claim that she does have it, I vehemently disagree. 2. "Experience" shouldn't be even close to the most important criterion in deciding who to vote for. SR
For Xericx: Make no mistake, McCain is nearly dead. His VP would become President this term almost certainly. Palin is a liar. A pathological liar. It has been proven that she lied about herself at the convention, and in nearly every appearance she has made since being put on display. Palin cannot answer simple questions most 8th graders can about other countries, or even our own. She comes off as mentally-challenged, unaware of her surroundings, and unable to develop a train of original thought. She doesn't even know her own party's positions. Palin is a nasty bitch. She would embarass our country and destroy what few alliances we still have around the world. Palin is in Big Oil's pocket, and will eventually go down in flames with Ted Stevens, and hopefully serve serious prison time. Tina Fey well-liked by most people, is adept at dealing with reporters, would never be stumped for an answer, is productive and creative on a genius level, and hangs with a far more powerful group of people than Palin had even met before last month. She has built a highly-successful business empire, one far more complex and effective than the State Government of Alaska, amassing numerous awards in her craft along the way. She comes off as honest and frank, and you know her words are her own. Seriously, I think she could hold her own in meetings with world leaders. I cringe at the thought of Palin being manipulated and abused and embarassing our country. I fear we would end up in a nuclear war in a very short time.
I generally fall in the camp of vote for the candidate who's politics you agree with more. Yeah, I know, shocking....but yeah. That's not what's happening for the most part.
McCain is nearly dead? While I don't disagree that he's too old to run. However, even someone as iconic as obama is certainly going to be the targets of fringe-type of groups. Even Clinton alluded to this in the Democratic primaries in an attempt to scare people away (don't think she didn't, the Clintons are very shady). As for the rest of your points, Biden also has a strange sense of history: He asked a man in a wheelchair to stand-up. I mean, you're recognizing someone, the least you can do is remember that he's handicapped. How is Palin in "Big Oil's Pocket"?
I believe that Palin has one of the highest approval ratings of any current governor. I think that this would satisfy your points about Fey being well-liked. I'm not even sure what demographic you are covering by saying "most people". By this, do you mean people who watch Saturday night live and watch comedic movies? I'm not sure what Fey's business interests are...maybe you can divulge them? I mean what business interest has she built that is more important than a State of the Union?
