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The Spectacle Blog
Sarah Palin has proved such a polarizing figure that it's hard for people on either side to take a step back and offer an honest assessment of her candidacy. Yes, it's true that she was smeared -- accused of banning library books and lying about the birth of her child, among other things -- but it's also true that she proved herself woefully unprepared for the office she was seeking. Yes, it's true that she added a boost of energy to the ticket, and brought a lot of conservatives on board who were previously skittish about John McCain, but it's also true that she turned off a lot of independents, who thought that she was unprepared, got nervous about electing her as VP for a 72 year-old McCain, and thought the Palin pick said something about how McCain makes decisions. As it turns out, 60 percent of voters believed that Palin was not qualified enough.
Watching the video about the McCain campaign's frustration with Palin, a few things struck me. I have no way of knowing whether it's true that Palin didn't know what countries were in NAFTA or whether she didn't realize Africa was a continent, but I'm sad to say that based on her public appearances and especially interviews, it wouldn't surprise me if that were the case. She was completely out of her depth when talking about foreign policy and many national domestic issues. I do think that it's rather lame of the McCain people to try and point fingers at her, though. If Palin was that awful, it means that there was a severe breakdown in the vetting process, and that is the responsibility of the campaign.
As far as whether she should be a future conservative leader for the Republican Party, consider me a skeptic. She's clearly culturally conservative, but beyond that it gets a bit blurry. Upon further scrutiny, she didn't turn out to be as much of a reformer and fiscal conservative as it seemed at first blush. She was a blank slate on national security before she ran for VP, and gave me little confidence that she had an in-depth understanding of the world during the campaign. I have no idea what she would be like if she were running her own campaign without having to square her views with the quirky stances of John McCain, but I found her economic populism grating at times.
In a sense, I think we may have come full circle. Back in June, when the idea of Palin being VP was largely a debate among conservative bloggers, I argued that from a purely political perspective, Palin may be McCain's best bet for VP, but I also noted that I had reservations about her lack of experience. Quin soon responded, "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." In hindsight, I think Quin was right, but then again, I don't think McCain could have won, no matter who he picked as VP.
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More Blog Posts by Philip Klein
http://spectator.org/blog/2008/11/06/re-the-blame-sarah-first-crowd
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aftan romanczak| 11.6.08 @ 12:13PM
I voted against Obama and for Palin, not McCain.
When McCain won the nomination, I said he was Bob Dole Redux. The only thing that got me to the polls was Palin. The conservarazzi letists made me throw up. Bye the way, I feel so secure knowing Joe Biden is a heart beat away from the presidency.
Robert Stacy McCain| 11.6.08 @ 12:26PM
"I don't think McCain could have won, no matter who he picked as VP. " In saying that, Phil, do you mean that the entire campaign was a waste of time? That it was over the minute McCain locked up the nomination?
SAZMD| 11.6.08 @ 1:01PM
"Upon further scrutiny, she didn't turn out to be as much of a reformer and fiscal conservative as it seemed at first blush."
Come on, everyone pumps themselves up in a campaign. Was Obama the moderate who worked with others? Was McCain as conservative as he tried to come across? Given the context of Alaska and how she got to be Governor, she was as much a reformer as an Alaskan can be, and then some. And she was much more fiscally conservative than either of the Democrat candidates. Let's get a little perspective please?
Michael Buratovich| 11.6.08 @ 1:07PM
Palin made her share of gaffes, but I expected her to. Being thrown into the election all of a sudden was probably a shock to her and her family. Having said that, I thought her performance in the Vice Presidential candidacy was excellent. This shows me that despite her shortcomings, she is a quick study. She also "gets it." She knows that people are sick and tired of shelling out their hard-earned money to an invasive and inefficient government whose job is to protect us from Islamofacists and Democrats who constantly want to tell us what to think.
It is amazing to me that Biden got away with talking about Roosevelt appearing on the television when there was no television at that time and that Roosevelt presided over the 1929 Stock Market Crash when it was Hoover. Palin's gaffes were no worse, but the press ignored Biden's horse manure and amplified Palin's every mistake. She has a future in the Republican party. Why not give her a chance instead of writing her off?
Philip Klein is an idiot| 11.6.08 @ 1:47PM
Do you really find it plasuible that Palin thought "Africa" was a country? I'd say you're the idiot. What a pathetic blog this is.
Mick AG| 11.6.08 @ 2:02PM
Under the circumstances she agreed into I thought she did a great job. Had she been able to participate in the campaign longer than she had she would have proven that even more. She definitely got better as the campaign drew to its close. I think the thing to do is to not pay any attention at all to how the radically liberal media spins anything. In the short time that she participated in the campaign she was vetted by the media in a far more intrusive manner than BHO throughout the entire 21 months of the campaign.
BD57| 11.6.08 @ 2:25PM
I'm not sure it's fair to tag Palin with "economic populism" - as near as I could tell, that was the McCain songsheet she was singing from (which is what VP nominees do).
Best thing for Sarah is finish her first term well, get re-elected by a wide margin & start developing her own "brand" by speaking, writing, talking with friendly audiences, etc.
The potential is there -
"Smart, Tough A**-Kicking Chick wins White House."
Rebecca Mansour| 11.6.08 @ 3:33PM
How in the world can you believe this nonsense that she didn't know which countries were in NAFTA? She negotiated a $40 billion gas pipeline with Canada! You journalists/bloggers should do your research. Go do a Lexus-Nexus look up of "Palin" and "NAFTA" for articles published pre-August 2008 (i.e. from before she was named as McCain's VP) and see what you come up with. Don't just buy this nonsense. Use your common sense please.
Captain America| 11.6.08 @ 3:58PM
Rasmussen put Palin's approval rating amongst Republicans at 71%.
How "polarizing" is that?
Captain America| 11.6.08 @ 4:00PM
Philip,
Considering over 50% of the electorate voted for Obama, having 60% say she is unqualified shouldn't take much imagination as to where it is coming from.
You need to be a bit more circumspect with your findings.
Al| 11.7.08 @ 4:39AM
Simply put, Sarah Palin's biggest problem is she's not smart. It was shocking how unprepared she was for questions, her academic record is atrocious, and her interviews were laughable.
As Mr. Klein says, it's no wonder that recent negative reports from the McCain campaign are quite believable.
The second McCain picked her as his VP running mate, he lost my vote.
Sarah Palin simply doesn't have the mental horsepower to lead the Republican party, and I'm astounded of the conjecture otherwise, including the ridiculous notion that she could run a credible 2012 presidential campaign. Please.
CM Ribe| 11.7.08 @ 8:13AM
Your first post is from a person who said he went to Penn State, but never even stepped foot in that school (Aftan Romanczak). Be careful what your readers post. This gentlemen used people all his life and will get whats coming to him at the end!
Frank| 11.7.08 @ 1:35PM
This has got to be one of the dumbest double standards ever. If qualifications were a true measure of a candidate Obama could not have won, that is if you equate qualifications with experience, which is perfectly reasonable.
The biggest misplay in this campaign was that at every single mention of the word experience they did not automatically and vociferously spew the FACT that hers, on paper and otherwise, trumped Obama's plainly, abjectly, and irrefutably, right back in their face.
The second misplay was their not consistently reminding voters that while Obama had 4 years to hone a sheen palatable to a national audience she had about 4 weeks. Pointing that out would have emphasized her authenticity and his contrivance. Not pointing it out left a void for the media to fill and, just like they always do, they filled that void with their standard book-burning, bible-thumping, homophobic, conservative caricature.
Obama's victory taught us neither experience nor qualifications matter. Knowing that it is impossible to conclude our demise was due to the lack thereof, especially from the bottom half of the ticket.
And yes, any Governor, of any state, of either party, gender, or race, who attains and maintains 80% job approval ratings, will, and should, warrant serious consideration on a national scale.
Pete Smith| 12.16.08 @ 7:59AM
Aftan Romanczak is not what he is. He did not graduate from Penn State, never stepped foot into the school. Only has the position he has, (Research & Development at Steak Out corporation in Atlanta) as he screwed the owner's daughter and made her pregnant. He will get what he deserves!!!
Robert Morgan| 3.1.09 @ 7:02PM
You have comment from Aftan Romanczak. Don't believe anything this person has to say or write. He fabricated he graduated from Penn State University. He does not have the background he says he has. Kindly remove this "jerk" from any writings you have.
Good Time| 3.24.09 @ 9:19PM
Aftan Romanczak is a liar. Make sure you never get this idiot on your site. He never went to college, but says he did. He cheated on all girlfriends, finances et. al. He is in debt over his head. Wow and you let this "jerk" on your site. He should be in "prison"