Going against the tide here, no doubt, but one of the biggest issues that people I know have with Obama is his inexperience. While I admire much about her, the selection of Palin has taken one of the strongest arguments against Obama off the table. Its a brave move by McCain: whether it will turn out to be a smart one remains to be seen.
How so? Since Palin has more executive experience than Obama.
I am sorry but if you think Palin isn't experienced you're just wrong. Governor of Alaska, mayor a town for serveral terms, foreign experience because as governor of Alaska she has had to deal with other countries, two of them border Alaska. She has accomplished much, not just talked about it, but done it. Trashed corrupt republican politicians and made them resign, sold the jet of one of them on E-bay, lowered property taxes in her home town, opened up a pipeline for natural gas that other governors only talked about.
Obama recognizes the fact she has experience because today, on another thread on FR, Obama and Biden both back tracked on the no experience statement saying that sometimes campaigns had hair triggers and talked without thinking, words to that affect.
So if Obama recognizes, and McCain recognizes, Palin has experience why don't you?
I think it was Biden and Clinton who were talking about Obama’s inexperience as well.
So basically the inexperience has been off the table with the selection of Biden, IMO.
It took nothing off the table but instead placed it on the table in full course meal fashion.There are so many easy responses to the experience challenge that I am sure the McCain team(which has absolutely been brilliant) is just licking at the chops to respond to any and all of them:
For example:
Challenge: McCain questions Obama’s experience yet selects a inexperienced 1st term governor.
Answer: Palin is not running for President, but as his running mate. If experience is your problem with her she has 2 years more executive experience than Biden and Obama COMBINED and has had to deal with multiple foreign nations, including Japan, Russia and Canada on various issues.
How so?
SHE has Executive experience, as Governor of Alaska.
SHE has Fiscal experience, as Governor of Alaska.
She has Management experience, as Governor of Alaska.
SHE has Reformist experience, as Governor of Alaska.
SHE has Diplomatic experience, as Governor of Alaska.
SHE beats Biden by a mile, and Obama by a galaxy!
And I just learned about her today!
Not to pile on, but permit me to pile on.
She has 16 years in public life, but her public life is a history of going after the big dogs and beating them. She has gone after people in her own party and forced them out, which shows some courage.
Town council, mayor, oil and gas board, ethics board in which she actually went after people. Then governor. Actually pushing the pipeline through. Pilot, hunter, commercial fisherman, she has done real things.
Then look at Obama. Never had a real job in his life. Nothing on his resume at all, and what there is they keep trying to hide the documentation. His only accomplishment, the only one, is talking about himself. There is no list of battles fought or battles won, nothing built, nothing to show for his years of doing, well, nothing.
He has the resume of an average college intern.
Not sure you understand - the man with the Senate, military, and foreign relations credibility is still at the top of the ticket.
It’s called succession planning and it’s what we do in the private sector.
Obama has no experience and he is running for president; Gov. Palin is an executive and she is second on the ticket. She also has way more experience than Obama. Nothing has been taken off the table. She also commands the National Guard and deals with Canada and Russia, her closest neighbors.
Governor Palin has far more management experience than Barry Soetoro Obama ... in fact Barry Obama has no management experience that I can find! And which would you rather have—since you want us to compare a veep to a pres nominee: would you rather elect a woman with management experience in government who will get intense ‘next-to-the-job’ training or would you prefer to elect a man who will be ‘on-the-job clueless’?
I strongly disagree. The topic is not only not off the table, but it is very likely to move front and center. Palin is vastly more experienced in actually running something executive as a VP candidate then the dem presidential candidate. The dems seem determined to try to play up her inexperience, but what they're going to do is draw a spotlight to Obama's inexperience. Obama hasn't even bothered to lead a single session of the committee that he's supposed to be in charge of...and it's foreign relations. If he can't run a committee there is no way he's qualified to run the nation.