http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/435468.aspx
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/29/AR2008082901777.html Lisa Schiffren:
“Talk about a role model for our daughters: Annie Oakley in the halls of power! With a newborn . . . and a son serving in Iraq. I am giddy!”
Me, too.
Father Mark White Blog 
I’m not giddy. I’m terrified! — at the possibility that this totally unprepared woman might become president of the United States.
Is she less prepared than the Presidential candidate on the other side? Where is his preparation and experience?
Barack Obama doesn’t have as much experience as I would like; nonetheless, his preparation for the presidency is better than Sarah Palin’s. 1) He has lived and worked in Chicago, a major American city — not a tiny town in Alaska — which gives him greater depth of experience. 2) His service as a state senator in the populous state of Illinois is better preparation than hers as city council member and mayor of tiny Wasilia, Alaska. 3) Though Sarah Palin has only a bachelor’s degree, Barack Obama has also a law degree (and was president of Harvard Law Review). 4) Obama has fought and won a challenging presidential primary campaign, which meant that he had to give evidence of at least some familiarity with foreign policy and national domestic issues. Sarah Palin has never had cause to demonstrate any familiarity with issues beyond those which affect Alaska.
Hello! I have to put my two cents in:
I am growing weary of the “experience” debate. Govenor Palin is not running for President, first of all. Secondly, in my eyes, conviction to take on the establishment in order to do the right thing for those for whom you are governing trumps being a lawyer from Harvard or a Senator from Illinois. But if we want to look at experience, she has very credible credentials — just take a few moments to look at her 20 months of executive experience. Govenor Palin has been governoring a state not just a Senate office. Governor Palin is smart and knowledgeable and experienced about the very issues that have been of great concern during this election – energy, environment, economy…. And she has stuck her neck out against corruption (crossing party lines) to “Do The Right Thing” for the people she serves. And I like that! I’d like to see a few Democrat AND Republican heads spinning with the new Administration.
I am not saying I know everything about Senator Obama and what he did or didn’t do for the city of Chicago or the state of Illinois, but I do know his views on the issues as a candidate for President. And in my mind, no matter how experienced you are, you govern by your views, and policy decisions will reflect that. And that is what matters to me!! I like what the McCain/Palin ticket believes in…!
P.S. And yes, I’m not just giddy, I’m very excited about the prospect of having her as a role model!!
Regina
Admittedly, Obama’s experience may be more cosmopolitan – but that in and of itself does not make him more qualified to be president. First of all, Sara Palin is Vice Presidential candidate – there is a chance she will become president, but it is not guaranteed. If Obama is elected – President is the position he will get. There isn’t a chance he will be vice-president. So to compare an inexperienced v-p candidate with an unprepared presidential candidate isn’t exactly apples-to-apples. But, I realize I opened that door.
The only fair way to compare the two is to look at their stands on the issues that are important to you. To me, the most important issue is the protection of human life. Fr. White said it beautifully – a fertilized human egg results in a baby – not “a blender, a Volkswagen, or a cat”. This issue is fundamental and very personal to me. If abortion had been legal in my children’s country of birth, it is extremely likely that their lives would have ended before they were born. This concept that people have a right to be born is so basic, that when a candidate has the inability to see that a “person is a person no matter how small” – I seriously question their judgment on every other matter. To me, that one position – Obama’s unwavering support of any abortion for any reason, at any time – outright disqualifies him.
But there are so many other issues that are troubling about that ticket. I don’t understand his position against drilling for American oil, or even oil near the US in international waters – or why he is determined to raise taxes when so many families are struggling in this economy.
Comparing what is known about the two candidates can either mitigate or exacerbate the unknowns, and to me what is known about Obama is scary.
Okay, I’m re-reading this and I see that I didn’t say why Sarah Palin is a good choice – I only suggested why Obama is a bad choice. I’m sure you’ve already figured out that my limited mental capacities will make this a very boring discussion. I concede the point that she may be inexperienced in national politics – but what I know of her so far, impresses me. She lives her convictions – she WILL protect life and proves it both with her voting record and her personal life. She supports closer oil exploration and opposes higher taxes. My thinking may be a little skewed, but I also feel her experience as a mother of 5, can only benefit balanced judgment. What better place to learn the finer points of negotiation, compromise and determining when it is time to lay down the law than in a large family? (Elements of foreign policy?) Certainly, these next weeks will be very interesting!
It’s irresponsible of Senator McCain to select a v.p. candidate with no demonstrated foreign policy experience. Even if foreign policy isn’t personally important to you, it must be considered. Nuclear questions — like Iran’s nuclear program. nukes in the hands of terrorists and other loose nuclear materials around the globe, nuclear weapons held by unstable governments like Pakistan’s — have life and death implications for all persons, including innocent children. How can a Christian not care about that? Why couldn’t Senator McCain choose a pro-life candidate who would be more trustworthy on foreign policy?
It matters supremely that a Vice President should be very capable of being President. I think any Presidential candidate who doesn’t take that seriously is irresponsible. Presidents have died in office many times in U.S. history, including only 45 years ago. Life is very fragile — it can end in an instant. It seems to me that Christians ought to be more sensitive to that than other people; what did Jesus tell us about the guy who gathered so much stuff into his barns?
How can John McCain have the chutzpah to assume he’ll live for four more years — or that Sarah Palin would have a clue as to how to handle America’s dealings with other nations?
You are absolutely right that foreign policy is crtitically important in this day and age. I have to say that I’m not that familiar with Obama’s foreign policy. The things I’ve heard about it are not flattering, but where the truth is is the question. Can you give any insight on it?
Barack Obama has argued for more rigorous diplomacy, aiming to mend fraued relations with U.S. allies. He would emphasize negotiating rather than engaging in threatening, bombastic rhetoric like “axis of evil.” He would use a kind of carrot-and-stick diplomacy with China, expanding U.S. ties and at the ssame time pressuring the Chinese on human rights. With respect to North Korea’s nuclear program, he calls for aggressive diplomacy by an international coalition. He would regard Russia as neither an enemy nor an ally, pushing for more democracy and working with the Russian government to secure Russia’s loose nuclear materials.
All of that sounds well and good, and would probably be successful in an academic environment, but John McCain could tell you, better than anyone else, that countries like China and North Korea don’t deal at that level. That type of policy led to the Iran hostage situation. Those same hostages were released unharmed 6 minutes after Ronald Reagan took the oath of office, because of his no-nonsense foreign policy. If foreign policy is the biggest issue, McCain is the only one of the four candidates, with an actual real-life understanding and experience.
As for your other points, I agree completely that the VP must be ready and able to take over the executive position at any time. But I vehemently disagree that Gov. Palin would not have a clue. She HAS experience in the executive position on the state level. And during her entire tenure, she has a better than 80% approval rating from both Republicans and Democrats. She must be doing something right. If you think of this as a corporate ladder, Vice President would be the next step up the ladder in a natural progression. This is the most logical way.
You say that McCain is being very irresponsible in his choice. I disagree. The most irresponsible thing, would be for any member, of either party, to vote for a candidate just because you are voting along party lines. And, as a Christian, my prayer is for the candidate who will follow God’s Will to be the one elected.
Just because something comes after something else doesn’t mean that the first thing caused the second. Iran became willing to release the hostages partly because Iraq had just begun a war against Iran and because of negotiations begun with the help of Algerian intermediaries. Furthermore, it’s dangerous to generalize about today’s foreign policy from something that happened almost 30 years ago. There are so many major differences that affect our foreign policy — China has a different economy and a different attitude toward the West; the Soviet Union is gone and so is the Cold War; Iran has many more young people and a greater interest in the West. There is so much to be known about the world by any U.S. Vice President and Sarah Palin hasn’t demonstrated that she has the knowledge.
The U.S. Constitution has nothing to do with “corporate ladders” or any natural progression from state to fedeal office. Sarah Palin in her speech sounded like she had never read the Constitution, when she said that she, an executive as a Governor, dealt with actions while Barack Obama, as a Senator, dealt only with words. Article I of the Constitution says that the Congress, of which Obama is a member, makes the federal laws — laws which every Governor must obey. If the President vetoes an intended law, the Congress has the piower to override that veto and pass the law. If all of this isn’t “action,” I don’t know what is.
How much “action” is involved in 130 “Present” votes?