Did McCain Botch the Sarah Palin Pick?

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For a so-called "energy expert" , how does she rectify submitting her 2009 Alaska state budget based on a price of $72.00 bbl. when Alaska crude oil is currently trading at $28.00 bbl. ? Does America really need her energy expertise when she budgets according to what she hopes the price of oil would / should be instead of what it IS on the day she submits her budget . And as to the natural gas pipeline that John McCain constantly gave Palin credit for , it DOES NOT EXIST ! It is nothing more than a proposal and is at least 8 - 10 yrs. from reality .

Brad C. of AK 10:51PM December 24, 2008

The grammar and syntax in the note from Dreika says it all about Palin supporters.

park city of UT 10:31PM December 24, 2008

Er, that is the point of the article. Sarah wasn't allowed to talk in detail about energy, or about her other areas of expertise.

fsteele of CO 9:20PM December 24, 2008

Ed from NC..........
I knew I was gonna run out of space, so let me answer your question on what else Governor Palin has. Obviously, you know the energy related stuff, but here's a bit more of her resume.
Everyone knows that Governor Palin started out as a PTA mom. Typical story. She just wanted to take an active role in her kid's education. At some point, she was convinced to run for a city council seat, which she did, and won. Then, Sarah ran for, and became Mayor of Wasilla. After two terms, she was term limited out. (something the US Congress needs, badly)
Governor Palin then made a run at Lt Governor, but lost. She was then selected as Chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
Something that people overlook, and this is key: Governor Palin is Commander-in-Chief of the only National Guard that is on permanent deployment.
The 176th Wing, of the Alaska Air National Guard train with and is part of the United States Air Force. They are vital to our air defenses, and are the first line of defense should Russia, North Korea, or China decide they want to become aggressive.
Recently, the 176th Wing was awarded for it's actions. It escorted 22 Russian Bear bombers out of US airspace. I'm sure you've read that Russia is flying the Bear again, and seeing what they can get away with. The award was for much more though.
http://www.176wg.ang.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123091720
As Governor Palin's position as CIC is rather unique, she receives regular briefings from Homeland Security, as well as other agencies. Govern Palin has a rather high security clearance as well. Something neither Obama nor Biden had prior to their win.
Sarah Palin was the only candidate running in the general election that had any sort of executive experience. She's the only one who had ever had to sit and make hard decisions. To actually run a state, balance a budget, deal with ethics issues, and so forth.
Governor Palin also has extensive foreign trade experience. Governors, that have something to export, routinely meet with foreign heads of state and work on extensive trade agreements. Again, something Obama, Biden, and McCain have zero experience at.
Palin has more foreign policy experience right now, than Bill Clinton did when he was elected.
People forget that it's Governors who generally become Presidents. In fact, Obama was the first Senator to be elected in 50 years. Being a Senator is considered to be the worst possible starting position, whereas Governor is considered the best.
Remember. Governors do almost everything a President does, on a smaller scale.
Look, here is what a successful Governor, and a successful President needs.
Common sense.
No one is an expert on every issue. But if you are a strong leader and have good sense. And know how to listen to advice, and then separate the BS from the facts, you will be very successful. Sarah Palin is very successful She has all of the qualities mentioned.

Gary P Jackson of TX 9:19PM December 24, 2008

Ed... a political independent! of NC
Gary... you certainly laid out a convincing case that Palin is indeed very knowledgeable about energy issues. Why did the McCain campaign not highlight all of what you did? If they did, I missed it... and I followed the campaigns closely. That is not a criticism directed toward you, but the McCain camp.
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Well, it's really easy. The McCain campaign SUCKED! It was like the Keystone Cops meet Abbott and Costello!!
All of the people who worked on the campaign should be sued for malpractice.
They wouldn't LET Sarah get out there. Then when they did, they allowed CBS and ABC do taped interviews that ended up being edited for the desired effect. But they were slow to get her on Fox. Of course doesn't play games, and the interviews she did before, and after the election, are broadcast as shot.
Sarah has done hours of competent interviews with them. Greta Van Sustren, a liberal, was pretty po'd about the dishonest media, and made it her mission to get the real story and has spent considerable time in Alaska interviewing Governor Palin at her work, and at her home. It was amazing to watch her cook, like she was Rachel Ray, while being interviewed on serious issues.
Sarah has been on CNN with Wolf Blitzer, and Larry Kind, and did quite well. And if you look, I provided a link above to a recent Canadian TV interview.
Back to the McCain campaign. They were totally incompetent. They wouldn't let her go on O'Reilly for some reason. I mean that's only the top show in all of cable. Of course, the night Obama did his silly infomercial O'Reilly offered McCain the whole hour to come on and state his case. You can't buy that kind of of coverage, and yet, McCain passed.
Finally, Governor Palin slipped away and started the conversations on her own. She called in and Rush Limbaugh interviewed her. Laura Ingraham did an interview, as did Mark Levin, and of course, Glenn Beck. Now Beck has a long history with her, because he has been interviewing her since she became Governor. Now I've been following her that long myself, and in fact, I saw her first on Beck's CNN TV show.
I'm telling you, the amount of poor management of the campaign can't be stressed enough. Nor can McCain himself. The problem with McCain, is he is really a moderate democrat. That has never worked for the Republican party, ever. And it certainly wasn't gonna work this time. They allowed democrats to blame Republicans for the sub-prime mess, when it was a 100 percent democrat failure. Starting with Jimmy Carter, and going though Clinton.
Even better, Barrack Obama was up to his eyeballs in it! Not only was he one of the leaders in contributions from Fannie Mae, Back in his ACORN days, he was the trainer that encouraged the flock to go and take over banks in protest, and even intimidate bankers at their homes!
McCain did nothing with this. Nothing.

Gary P Jackson of TX 9:00PM December 24, 2008

Did McCain Botch the Sarah Palin Pick?"
Well, look what happened. Stupid question. THink about it, if McCain were running
a business, he would be out of business now. Of course Palin didn't work, otherwise they would have won.
stupid question

asr of ID 7:59PM December 24, 2008

Throughout the campaign, continued to have a nagging feeling that McCain was not really ready to do battle to win. There were days when he seem to want to be goody two shoes. Their were other days when he 'thought all was well with the economy'. There were still others when I honestly think that he did not know what to do with Palin -- nor did his staff. If the truth be known, my guess is that his staff was the one that made the decision to bring Palin on; his staff was probably divided on the decision; but, McCain thought it could be a game changer having a female running mate. The problem was ---- he had NO IDEA AS TO HOW TO USE HER -- AND, DIDN'T!!!!
Think that Poor Old John just is having problems trying to figure out what he believes -- and why!!

JWATL of GA 6:01PM December 24, 2008

All the silly name-calling and insults Sarah Palin endures on the Internet does not lessen my respect for her one bit. If anything, it strengthens my resolve to support Sarah. I'm sure many other Palin fans feel the same way.
What does Sarah Palin need to do to be a serious contender for the White House in 2012? IMO, continue to be a successful governor of Alaska and get re-elected in 2010. Build up your resume with additional accomplishments, especially on energy independence. Do a better job communicating with the media by talking with them more and more. With the McCain handlers gone, this should be much easier.
If successful, Sarah's negative poll numbers should decline, and her positives rise. She will also be a more experienced politician by the time of the next presidential election cycle.
I certainly acknowledge Sarah Palin has a tremendous amount of work to do between now and 2012. The challenges are huge. But the opportunity for her IS there.

The chirping bird of OH 5:50PM December 24, 2008

Sarah Palin has got to be the front runner for the Republican nomination for President in 2012. After all, she has already passed the incompetency test.

Ronald V. Simpson of FL 4:50PM December 24, 2008

Gary P. Jackson of TX
Gary... you certainly laid out a convincing case that Palin is indeed very knowledgeable about energy issues. Why did the McCain campaign not highlight all of what you did? If they did, I missed it... and I followed the campaigns closely. That is not a criticism directed toward you, but the McCain camp. Nevertheless, even if we assume Palin's expertise in energy, what about the multiplicity of other "areas" in which a VP and potential POTUS (potential being high considering McCain's age) must be competent? It seems that all but a small segment of the Republican party, the very conservative far-right, failed to see any evidence of Palin's competence in any area. She clearly failed to perform even minimally acceptably in several interviews when she had to address questions of substance. Perhaps she could have responded well to energy questions, but there are so many additional questions to which it is likely she would have failed miserably... and did on many. Clearly the perception by a majority of the electorate, including significant numbers of Republicans, was that she was/is simply "NOT READY" to lead our country as VP, and even less ready "Heaven forbid", as POTUS. Perception, true or not, is the same as reality to the person having the perception. If Palin is truly "as good" as some portend her to be... the McCain camp really "blew it" with regard to how she was presented to the public. Energy expert? If she truly is, and you make a good case, perhaps McCain should have chosen one of the many much more qualified, and acceptable to the American people, individuals for VP and made her a "Secretary of Energy". Perhaps that or similar position is one in which she could have had even the most remote chance of success.

Ed... a political independent! of NC 4:35PM December 24, 2008