I suppose you can say she "won" if winning is defined by skating
by without a major embarassing incident that will damage the ticket
politically. But if you set the bar higher and ask whether she
displayed any real understanding of foreign policy and national
security, given the office she's seeking, I would say that she lost
pretty handily. I just don't see how anybody watching that could
have honestly thought that she's ready to take over as commander in
chief at a moment's notice if something were to happen to John
McCain. It's one thing for partisan Republicans to defend her
performance, but it's disappointing to see so many conservative
commentators join in. I was watching Fox last night and Bill
Kristol said she was "impressive." Meanwhile,
Andy McCarthy has been trying to defend her on the Bush
Doctrine question by arguing that it isn't easily defined and is
the subject of debate even within the foreign policy community. But
that's not the point. When asked about the Bush Doctrine, had Sarah
Palin said, "How do you mean that Charlie? Intellegent people
disagree on the actual meaning of the term. Some people see it as
the idea of using preemtive war as a means to eliminate threats,
others see it as the idea that we're not going to distinguish
between terrorists and the nations that harbor them, and still
others say that promoting democracy is an essential element of it"
than yes, it would be clear that she has a grasp of the subject
matter.
But here's the actual exchange:
GIBSON: Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?
PALIN: In what respect, Charlie?
GIBSON: The Bush -- well, what do you -- what do you
interpret it to be?
PALIN: His world view.
GIBSON: No, the Bush doctrine, enunciated September
2002, before the Iraq war.
PALIN: I believe that what President Bush has
attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists
who are hell bent on destroying our nation. There have been
blunders along the way, though. There have been mistakes made. And
with new leadership, and that's the beauty of American elections,
of course, and democracy, is with new leadership comes opportunity
to do things better.
His "world view"? Are conservatives seriously going to argue that
she knows what she's talking about?
Meanwhile, some other conservatives seem to be contented that
her hawkish answers suggest that her heart is in the right place.
But that's the same assumption conservatives made about President
Bush, and look how that turned out.
topics:
Foreign Policy, Islam, Iraq
