The Greatest Wisdom Often Consists of Ignorance

Sarah Palin has been simultaneously protected and exposed since her unexpected pick for the Republican vice presidential nomination. She has served the Republicans well, sparking a resurgence in John McCain's campaign. Her gender, conservative views, and small town appeal have excited Republicans that did not want to vote for McCain and have independents and disenfranchised Hillary Clinton supporters taking a closer look at the McCain-Palin ticket.

Her selection has not come without criticism though. The McCain campaign kept her away from legitimate questions about her experience, questions that Barack Obama has been answering for more than a year, for over two weeks and even now she is still mostly shielded. I realize that she is not running for president, but she is the running mate of a 72-year-old candidate who has battled cancer four times. Her ability to interact in a global setting and her overall knowledge about issues seem germane to me, based on the circumstances. Anybody can read a speech that is prepared for them (before anyone thinks it, Obama writes most of his own), but what does she really think?

The evasiveness still continues, as yesterday, asked about her refusal to turn over e-mails to an Alaska investigator, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin looked up, smiled — and then stepped wordlessly into her waiting car. "The American people are going to get to know Governor Palin very well by the end of the campaign," says Steve Schmidt, the top strategist for presidential candidate John McCain. When?

She has done one interview thus far. Charles Gibson of ABC got the honor and now she is under even more scrutiny. When asked about the Bush Doctrine, the foreign policy that states the United States has the right to treat countries that harbor or give aid to terrorists as terrorists themselves, she stumbled and stalled for time until Gibson eventually told her what it was. She then contradicted McCain and agreed with Obama about proposed relations with Pakistan. She also said "I think he is regretting not picking now" in response to Gibson's question about whether Obama should have selected Hillary Clinton as his vice president. Her answer to the Clinton question indicates that she was simply a choice for political gain and not a qualified candidate.

I don't doubt Sarah Palin's sincerity or her desire to do the job well if she is elected to office. I do question her views and her ethics. Others have been much harsher, including members of her own party.

In the Washington Post, Richard Cohen went off on McCain, seizing on the Palin pick as a sign of how far McCain is willing to go just to get elected. He wrote "McCain has turned ugly. His dishonesty would be unacceptable in any politician, but McCain has always set his own bar higher than most. He has contempt for most of his colleagues for that very reason: they lie. He tells the truth. He internalizes the code of the McCains - his grandfather, his father: both admirals of the shining sea. He serves his country differently, that's all - but just as honorably. No more, though."

He continues "His opportunistic and irresponsible choice of Sarah Palin as his political heir - the person in whose hands he would leave the country - is a form of personal treason, a betrayal of all he once stood for. Palin, no matter what her other attributes, is shockingly unprepared to become president. McCain knows that. He means to win, which is all right; he means to win at all costs, which is not."

Here's the link for the article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/15/AR2008091502406.html

Ross Douthat, co-author of Grand New Party, called the "best single roadmap of where the [Republican] party should and is likely to head," is even fed up with McCain. He served up this criticism of Palin as the VP Nominee: "Yes, the questions were tougher than the ones that a Tim Kaine or Tim Pawlenty probably would have been handed, but they were all questions that a vice-presidential nominee needs to be able to answer. And there's no way to look at her performance as anything save supporting evidence for the non-hysterical critique of her candidacy - that it's just too much, too soon - and a splash of cold water for those of us with high hopes for her future on the national stage."

It seems that Palin, once the saving grace for the Republicans, is quickly burning up her fifteen minutes of fame under the hot lights of this campaign. Can the Republicans keep her safe from the forthcoming investigations and examinations? Can her overnight popularity stand up to 48 more days of campaigning? Can she do anything to deserve her immediate celebrity status? What can she do for America besides be the first woman to hold the office of vice president?