What the conervative pundits say about Quayle..errr.. I mean Palin

[Galen Sevinne]

So I did the conservatives a favor and researched current conservative opinions of the Palin selection.

1. "She Just Is Not Ready to Be Commander-in-Chief" [said] Pat Buchanan on MSNBC just now, about Sarah Palin. I'm liable to agree.

2. "As much as I loathe Obama-Biden, I can't in good conscience vote for a McCain-Palin ticket. Palin has absolutely no experience in foreign affairs. Considering both McCain's advanced age and the state of the world today, it is essential that the veep be exceedingly qualified to assume the office of president. I simply don't have any confidence in Palin's ability to deal effectively with Iran, Russia, China, etc. I certainly will not cast a vote for Obama-Biden, but nor will I vote for McCain-Palin. Looks like I'll either sit this one out or vote for Bob Barr. Why, o, why, didn't McCain listen to Rove and just pick Romney? - Kathryn Jean Lopez

3. "Inexperience. Palin has been governor for about two minutes. Thanks to McCain’s decision, Palin could be commander-in-chief next year. That may strike people as a reckless choice; it strikes me that way. And McCain's age raised the stakes on this issue.

As a political matter, it undercuts the case against Obama. Conservatives are pointing out that it is tricky for the Obama campaign to raise the issue of her inexperience given his own, and note that the presidency matters more than the vice-presidency. But that gets things backward. To the extent the experience, qualifications, and national-security arguments are taken off the table, Obama wins.

And it’s not just foreign policy. Palin has no experience dealing with national domestic issues, either. (On the other hand, as Kate O’Beirne just told me, we know that Palin will be ready for that 3 a.m. phone call: She’ll already be up with her baby.)

Tokenism. Can anyone say with a straight face that Palin would have gotten picked if she were a man?

Compatibility. It doesn’t seem as though McCain knows Palin well. Do we have much reason to think they would work well together?

Debates. Maybe, as Jonah said the other day, Biden will look like a bully going up against her—and maybe she’ll shine. But I can think of a lot of other picks who would have been lower-risk.

I am not even sure that the pick will have quite the galvanizing effect on conservatives that it seems to be having now as it sinks in. The concerns I’ve mentioned here—about her readiness and her credentials—are the kind of thing that many conservative voters take seriously." - National Review's Ramesh Ponnuru

4. "She may not be ready for primetime. The heartbeat-from-the-presidency issue is a real one." - National Review's Jonah Goldberg

5. "I recognize that were McCain to select Palin as his Veep it disrupts the Obama Lacks Foreign Policy Experience" talking point, but I was never thought that argument was all that powerful". - Jonathon Adler

6. "If Obama is an empty suit, as McCain has suggested, is Palin suited for the Oval Office herself?

She is younger and less experienced than the first-term Illinois senator, and brings an ethical shadow to the ticket. Just 20 months ago, she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a town of 6,500 where the biggest issue is controlling growth and the biggest annual worry is whether there will be enough snow for the Iditarod dog-mushing race." - Ron Fournier

7. "It Sounds Like a Harriet Miers Decision. Let's Find a Woman, Whether She's Experienced or Not." - Joe Scarborough

8. "I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the V.P. does every day?"- Sarah Palin (herself) "

9. "beautiful" - G7


She is a complete hail mary. Trap can go and rub a couple off to the idea that she is a christian but for real? Palin? I haven't seen the speech yet but word is that it was incredibly bland and Mccain looked anxious and tortured. They looked like they didn't even like each other.

[jonboy79]

Tokenism... Do you really need to go there? You just had a primary between Mrs Bill Clinton and the Great Black hope(The savior of the world)... You have NO BUSINESS talking about Tokenism.

[sailorsam]

only been in high office for two years...absolutely no experience in foreign affairs...no confidence in dealing with China, Iran, etc...
just about every point is equally true if you substitute 'Obama' for 'Palin'. at least Gov Palin has executive experience.


(see you tomorrow guys...)

[Galen Sevinne]

Tokenism... Do you really need to go there? You just had a primary between Mrs Bill Clinton and the Great Black hope(The savior of the world)... You have NO BUSINESS talking about Tokenism.

:read
Ramesh Ponnuru said that not me. Read the post...those were all comments from conservatives. My only comment was that it is beautiful.

[jonboy79]

I understood that as per usual, there wasn't an original thought in one of your threads, btu you certainly found the time and effort to bring them al together and post them, so obvioulsy you see some value in the comments. The fact that you didn't respond to the thoguht behind my post goes to show that you know it is true.

[Galen Sevinne]

I understood that as per usual, there wasn't an original thought in one of your threads, btu you certainly found the time and effort to bring them al together and post them, so obvioulsy you see some value in the comments. The fact that you didn't respond to the thoguht behind my post goes to show that you know it is true.

I read both sides of the issues usually. Moderate conservatives are not happy with this choice. The extreme might differ but they will not decide 2008.

In this particular forum it is usually easier to avoid posting original thoughts because they are just minimized because I vote progressive. Trap goes on and on about her being a christian and that makes the decision a good one. Barack is a christian but I guess just not the right kind of christian. I don't really understand christian thought when it comes from the extreme end. Anyway, there are a lot of other reasons to nominate and choose. It seems like a lot of respected conservative writers really are shocked with this choice.

My opinion as expressed prior is that it is a hail mary and will either keep this race close or will bury Mccain. I don't see it in any way pushing Mccain over the top. This election is about moderate voters...Hillary's lot and these folks are mostly pro-choice. I would be surprised if they jump over to Mccain soley because of a female vp. To me that diminishes the value if what Hillary has accomplished and her voters are smart enough to know that.

Like conservative writers are saying if Palin was a male she/he would have never been chosen. Sounds a bit like sexism to me, along the same idea of affirmative action and just a questionable choice. Its a hail mary.