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Why I Will Not Vote For Sarah Palin For President (or VP)

I just listened to an interview with megahistorian and uber-conservative Victor Davis Hanson, explaining why he thinks the criticism of Sarah Palin is overblown, especially concerning her lack of verbal skills. He said that this trait doesn’t necessarily indicate her capacity as a politician and a leader. A friend at the blog Gay Patriot asked the same type of question:

So you think that if someone doesn’t mix up their words, they must be better and more knowledgeable than you? Wow.

Well, it’s a decent start. I wouldn’t vote for me as president. A guy has to know his (or her) limitations.

Here are my issues with Sarah Palin:

When I hear or read Palin’s efforts at answering questions, I am reminded of many of the “C” grade papers I got from my junior students when I was student teaching. I know she is more knowledgeable than those students, and I believe she has a better grasp of energy issues than Obama, but that’s about it.

I am also reminded of George Bush. He has a MBA, but right now, you would never know it. His speech, begging American people to approve of the $700 billion bailout, did not show he has mastery of economic principles, and that should be his greatest strength. He can’t seem talk a cat into a paper bag. I voted for Bush, and excused his interesting syntaxical errors in the same fashion that Palin supporters do hers. He had a lot more accumulative executive experience than Palin, and that didn’t turn out so well.

Sarah Palin has only been governor for less than two years, during relatively good economic times, in one of the least populous states of the union. She has not been tested, until now. She may, for all I know, be the next Harry Truman. But Truman, who was also criticized for his plain speaking manner had a lot more national political experience than both Palin and Obama put together. He was plain spoken, but at least he could put a sentence together.

OK. so Truman isn’t the best comparison. What about the first local yokal who just so happens to have also been the first President to have been elected by popular vote, Andrew Jackson. He was the first what we today would call “Non-ellite” to be President. It helps that he succeeded John Quincy Adams, who by virtue of being the son of John Adams.. yes THAT John Adams, was considered to be the ultimate elite of the day – phenomenally educated and the son of one of the founding fathers. Here are the stats on Jackson’s political career prior to becoming Pres.:

• Member of U.S. House of Representatives, 1796-97
• United States Senator, 1797-98
• Justice on Tennessee Supreme Court, 1798-1804
• Governor of the Florida Territory, 1821
• United States Senator, 1823-25

Though not formally schooled , Jackson passed the Tennessee bar exam and became a lawyer. Plus he was a solder in the Revolutionary War and a Commander in the War of 1812.

Here is Palin’s experience:

• Mayor of Wasilla Alaska, 1996 – 2002.
• Appointed by Governor to Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, 2003 – 2004
• Served as Governor of Alaska for two years, 2006 – Present.

Hansen referred to Palin as a “frontiers woman”, but compared to Andrew Jackson, she has much less experience than this frontiersman.

Here is my assessment of Palin’s experience shortcomings:

1) Demands of being a mayor of a small town vs. demands of being President. Not in any way comparable. I don’t care how well this person did, one in their right mind would elect the mayor of Selma California to the Presidency. Need not say more.

2) Demands of Governorship of small populous state vs. demands of President. Governing 750,000 vs. 305,000,000 – Still small potato(e)s in comparison. Alaska’s entire population is not even twice as large as Fresno’s at 410,000. Allan Autrey (Bubba from “Heat of the Night”) has been a pretty good mayor in his two terms; he’s even leaving office with a balanced budget. That said, I would not vote for him as VP. Fresno-and-a-half is a long way from Vice President of the United States.

One of the reasons Mike Huckabee and, on the other side of the isle, Bill Richards didn’t get the nod was that the states they both govern are small populous states, 3 and 2 mil respectively. Look at the mediocrity we got with Bill Clinton. And they were Gov’s for six years or more. Palin has barely two under her belt.

3) Here is a fair assessment of her record. Yes, it’s not bad. Some very good. But there has been a lot of exaggeration coming from her camp. Earmarks. Bridge To Nowhere. Pipeline Hype. Note that all my sources, save ABC News, are considered conservative leaning.

OK. I could give all this a pass if I would hear Palin give well thought out answers to easy and predictable questions she’s been asked. But all we get is stuff like this:

Well, Americans are caring about the problems in the economy of course And wanting to know what those long term solutions are that our ticket can provide and what the other ticket is proposing so when you talk though about what it is that we are proposing and what it is that Barack Obama is proposing again it is relevant to connect that association that he has with Ayers–not so much he as a person Ayers, but the whole situation and the truthfulness and the judgment there that you must question if again he’s not being forthright in all of his answers as to how did you know him, when did you know him, why would you continue to be associated with him!? It makes you wonder about the forthrightedness,…

Or this:

Couric: Why isn’t it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries? … Instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?

Palin: Ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up the economy – Oh, it’s got to be about job creation too. So health care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions.

These are non-answers. There is no depth there. When the teleprompter is taken away, she does not show much understanding of issues at hand.

When she was first nominated, I was supportive and, on the face of it, liked the pick. But as I do with every new candidate, I wanted to see her in action to assess whether she is up to the job. I did not prejudge her one way or the other, but evaluated her based on her prior experience, record and her command of national issues. Her resume is thin, so more weight was given to her grasp of the major issues facing the country. In this regard, she has failed miserably. There is nothing beyond the mangled talking point. Simply put, Sarah Palin is not ready for the job of being President or VP.

PS. While I was tackling the history of the VP’s of the last 100 years, someone else topped me by putting together a video of all the VP’s in U.S history. Enjoy.

PS. This, I think, hope, will be the last post I write concerning Sarah Palin’s fitness and qualifications for VP.