Friday, August 29, 2008
P.S.
A Reuters article quotes Obama's campaign spokesperson Bill Burton as saying "Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency" which gives rise to two questions and a quibble:
1. McCain hasn't put Palin in the job that's "a heartbeat away from the presidency" since votes won't be cast for over two months - he's proposed her for the nomination for candidacy for the job (actually, neither of them is officially a candidate until the convention next week says so, but that's another quibble, isn't it?). Is Obama unwittingly conceding? There are always all those undercurrent rumors about democrats' drive to fail; maybe this is freudian-slippery proof of them.

2. It's a grammatical quibble but it's not the town that has zero foreign policy experience. Burton needs to keep on top of stuff like participial clauses so people don't start thinking his boss isn't quite the blindingly eloquent wordsmith after all.

3. It is true that Palin has "zero foreign policy experience." On the other hand, Obama has zero foreign policy experience, too, so it seems awfully risky for him to talk about Palin's inexperience especially considering that he's the one at the top of the ticket and she's second. It's most unwise for him to alert people to his own shortcomings in that regard and, more or less, to point voters to the realization that both his opponent's v.p. candidate and he have approximately the same number of years of job experience (14), his in service (organizer, laywer, state legislator, senator) and hers in management (city council member, mayor, ethics committee chair, governor).
And to think I was concerned that the campaign was going to be boring.

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Permalink | | posted by jau at 4:03 PM


6 more:
Blogger Barb the Evil Genius — at 8:59 PM, August 29, 2008:
Actually, Palin apparently has a little experience with the two countries Alaska borders. She has negotiated some pipeline deal with Canada, and Russian boats "play" on the Alaskan border all the time. This is from what I've read.
 

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Blogger jau — at 10:17 PM, August 29, 2008:
Aha! So she has more "foreign policy experience" than Obama. Go, Sarah! Are you as excited by her as I am??
 

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Blogger ligneus — at 11:39 PM, August 29, 2008:
Hey I'm as excited as all get out, I've been praying that he would pick her but didn't really think he would. The Dems are snookered now, it's checkmate, McC has played the long ball [how's that for a bunch of mixed metaphors!] in that he's brought into the game the next generation to become known and gain experience. Hillary can forget all about '12 now and she probably knows it which will make her even more bitter about Obama for taking away her only chance at playing at being President just like her darling husband William did.
So tell me, do you feel a little better now about the old guy?
 

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Blogger DADvocate — at 12:08 AM, August 30, 2008:
How much foreign policy experience did Jimmy Carter have when elected? He was a peanut farmer and a one term governor of Georgia. And, as others have said, Obama's very weak on foreign policy.

I'm willing to bet Palin's a quick study, also.
 

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Blogger jau — at 9:06 AM, August 30, 2008:
Yes, Tony. Uncle. Happy?!

Good point about how angry Hillary must be. And all the new ads from O&B indicate they must be furious. If McCain wins, Palin will almost certainly be the first woman president. Hillary must be going nuts.

I'm still not sure about the basic issues, though - can McCain change the economic sluggishness, for example???
 

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Blogger Barb the Evil Genius — at 10:49 AM, August 30, 2008:
I'm thrilled about Palin. And I think McCain can help with the economic sluggishness by getting away from ethanol, which is driving up the price of corn and other food products, and by doing some drilling in the US. Palin is behind ANWR, which I approve of.
 

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