Phil, I'm sorry, but I have to part ways with you on this one.
In fact, I would propose a rule that NOBODY could be proposed as
Veep who cannot immediately, on Day One, be seen as legitimately
ready to be president. She clearly doesn't even come close. As the
VERY short-term governor of the most sparsely populated state in
the union, a state so wealthy that its citizens get a check from
state government every year, she has had no chance, none at all, to
prove that she could serve in the Oval Office at a moment's
notice.
This is not a slap at you, Phil, but a general comment: I become
more and more amazed at how cavalierly people in general treat the
job of president, in terms of how hard it is, how qualified and
experienced one must be to do the job right, etc. Even JFK, after
12 years in office in DC, was pathetically unready for the job and
made horrible mistakes in his first year in office. The very idea
that Barack Obama is ready for the presidency is laughable. The
notion of Bobby Jindal as president, even with a ton of mid-level
governmental executive experience and a genius IQ, but still
without much political seasoning, is not laughable, but it is at
least a little dicey. John Edwards four years ago? Frankly, nuts.
heck, Jimmy Carter after one full term as governor of Georgia was
woefully unprepared for office, not just by virtue of ideology but
of relevant and useable experience. And Palin just doesn't cut it,
despite all her political strengths. I just HATE the way people
talk about Veeps in purely political terms without considering that
these people are a heartbeat away from the presidency, and that
since 1976 they have become steadily and increasingly more powerful
in their own rights. It's a dangerous world out there. Too
dangerous to entrust an almost utter novice with control of the
nuclear football.
topics:
Barack Obama
