Lowry: Palin’s Not Ready
National Review editor Rich Lowry:
The fact still remains that she very likely didn’t know any of the possible definitions of the Bush doctrine. I can’t imagine if Obama had picked Gov. Tim Kaine and he had had a similar moment, conservatives would have rushed to say that the Bush doctrine is just too amorphous and complicated for him to know anything about it. Palin seemed weak on economic and budgetary policy too, talking in the vaguest generalities. She was much better, and positively good, on the social issues—which are dear to her and she’s thought about—and anything having to do with her personally or with her record in Alaska. She was magnificent on the Iraq-prayer question. This tends to suggest she’ll be as strong on the national issues, once she’s truly conversant with them. I hope she got up from the foreign policy session and said to her aides, “Dammit. That wasn’t good enough and I’m not letting it happen again. I’m not going to allow myself to be so under-prepared for another high-profile interview again.” Of course, she has a tremendous amount of material to master in a short period of time.
Again, we see a conservative and a Palin fan basically hoping Palin will be ready at some future point when she has the opportunity to learn about such matters as foreign policy and domestic policy. And of course it’s unlikely that McCain will win the election and die in January, so probably we won’t wind up with a president whose not prepared to discuss the vast majority of issues in national politics.
All of which is a reminder of what a crassly political choice this was. The President of the United States has an enormous job. And nobody expects anyone, no matter how experienced, to somehow do it single-handedly. You’re helped by a team. Recent Presidents have used the Vice Presidency as an opportunity to add a key player to the team. And it’s easy to see why someone might think that adding Joe Biden to the Obama Team would allow the Obama Team to govern more effectively. Biden is the kind of guy who, had he not gotten the nod for VP, would have been in the mix to run the State Department. If McCain had gone with Joe Lieberman, I wonder which agency Palin would have been a serious choice for.
44 Responses to “Lowry: Palin’s Not Ready”
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September 13th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
She’d have been a totally plausible Secretary of the Interior, and perhaps a plausible Secretary of Energy.
September 13th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
John beat me to it. It’s not that there aren’t any agencies that Palin would be qualified to run; it’s that they’re not particularly important agencies.
September 13th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
The Ministry of Truth, of course!
see the post at tpm:
Whoops! Top Republican Admits That GOP Is Running “Ministry Of Truth” Against Obama
September 13th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Which reminds me of something odd I’ve noticed. When you think of all the Republicans who have come to prominence this campaign cycle, you could build a pretty effective and logical cabinet out of them.
McCain – Sec of Defense
Romney – Sec of Treasury
Giuliani – Homeland Security
Lieberman (not GOP but you know what I mean) – Sec of State
Thompson – Atty General
Huckabee – HHS
Palin – Energy or Interior
What’s missing, of course, is someone who’s capable of handling the full job of President.
September 13th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
The fact still remains that she very likely didn’t know any of the possible definitions…
If this were referring to the definition of ‘assets’ and ‘liabilities’, she would be exactly like E. O’Neal.
September 13th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
All of which is a reminder of what a crassly political choice this was.
It’s Spiro Agnew all over again. Like him, she’s got no record of serious governance, but she’s beloved by the culture-war base and an excellent attack dog. She even seems to have the same personal corruption that Agnew had.
It’s not a coincidence that Spiro Agnew was the last veep who’d never met a foreign leader. Palin is a Republican archetype–the Spiro Agnew attack dog beloved by the base.
Of course, there’s a big difference between McCain and Nixon. Yeah, they’re both fans of boldfaced lying, but Nixon was 56 when he took office.
September 13th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
. And of course it’s unlikely that McCain will win the election and die in January,
Ya know, William Henry Harrison would have said the same thing.
Tippecanoe and Barbie too.
September 13th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
I’m amazed none of you came up with the obvious answer:
PRESS SECRETARY
September 13th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
I wonder if Mr. Lowry, upon hearing he needed a life threatening medical procedure, would be pleased to learn that a first year medical student has been selected to perform the surgery. He is assured: She will be a great surgeon one day we are certain, she has been a great medical student, she really believes in her ability to perform the surgery, and she will study real hard in the few weeks until she has to operate. And.. you may not ask her any questions about her qualifications for performing your surgery because that’s just sexist!! Really–if you apply the Sarah Palin logic to ANY other situation of dire consequence, it is just laughable.
September 13th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
This is great insight into the way the right thinks. Lowry obviously believes that Palin is just another couple briefings away from being able to hold her own in a press interview. Forget *learning* the substantive policies (or, even more importantly, the underlying facts that are the reason for the policies) – because that kind of knowledge and wisdom can only be accumulated over years.
But the right doesn’t care about actual knowledge, they only care about getting their photo ops right. So even though she’s years away from the actual learning that might qualify her to be president, given that Palin *almost* has the talking points down right, he’s almost assuaged.
September 13th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
She’d have been a totally plausible Secretary of the Interior
Hmm, I’m not sure. Does she hold a childhood love of mountains and national parks? That seems to be along the lines of the things she would require in a Secretary of Interiot.
Palin chooses schoolmate friend to be head of Agricultural Division because of her childhood love of cows.
So when there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, she appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as one of her qualifications for running the roughly $2 million agency.
September 13th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Oops, supposed to have an NYT link in that last post.
September 13th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
It can’t be emphasized enough how pathetic Lowry’s “hope” is… for someone who has spent the better part of the last seven years telling us islamonazifacististas were an imminent threat, Lowry now seems to feel that mastery of a high profile interview will be our greatest protection.
September 13th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Press secretary, definitely.
I’m still trying to understand what PREVENTED her from learning and knowing more about foreign and domestic policy in the years prior to this selection. About Iraq, for god’s sake. And I’m not speaking about talking points here. She might be “outside” Washington, might be, but she’s not outside the planet.
And why this predictive nonsense that she will or can learn what she needs to learn? And learn it well enough to exercise sound judgment, even wisdom? I feel as if I’m watching an episode of “Medium” when I hear this argument.
September 13th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
If only Charlie would have offered some multiple choice questions…….
Secretary of Health, Abstinence & Warfare.
September 13th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
FEMA. She’d be the perfect followup to Heckuva Job Brownie.
September 13th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
McCain can still win, and die too, in which case we will end up with a President who is genuinely supported only by the most ignorant rightwing religious fanatics. Not even by the smart rightwing religious fanatics. Chances of that happening are probably around one in a fifty, maybe even one in thirty. Our new president will be someone who hopes that she sees Armageddon in her own lifetime.
Have a nice day, folks. And if you have Republican friends, thank them for the wonderful thing they’ve done for us!
September 13th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
It is indeed an absurdly low bar for someone who might soon be President for Lowry to basically be hoping she will soon be better at faking a knowledge of key national policy issues, but I think it is worth noting I doubt that Lowry’s hope will be fulfilled anyway. It is a tough thing to fake under the best of circumstances, and Palin is surrounded by people who are bound to be terrible teachers because their entire political approach is based on the premise that knowledge of policy issues doesn’t really matter.
September 13th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
MattY is so reknowned as an anti-establishment figure that it’s no longer necessary for him to point out that the prez, whoever it be, is largely a figurehead. So, that’s why he didn’t point it out above.
September 13th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
I can’t wait for Nov. 4th- when the Left will inevitably say, “the Republicans cheated… again”- while Yglesiasians are condemned to licking their own genitalia when describing their “historic” loss.
How could you possibly think a half-black “whitey-hating Marxist metrosexual” would ever win the Presidency?
I’m taking Nov 5th as a vacation day so I can spend a full 24 hrs laughing at the leftist morons…
September 13th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Imagine the job Palin would have been picked for if she were 60. Or if she looked like Margaret Rutherford. Or even only looked as goofy as a female version of Barack Obama.
The answer is that she’d only ever have been a PTA mom in a remote town in Alaska.
With her baggage and Time knocking on her door, this election, right now, is Palin’s chance. In 6 months she’s old news. In 4 years, she’s the answer to a trivia question.
Unless the unthinkable happens.
Then, we’re all screwed and that piss-warm honesty of Lowry’s will just be one the millions of reasons why.
September 13th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
I’m taking Nov 5th as a vacation day so I can spend a full 24 hrs laughing at the leftist morons…
I’ll take the same day off, reveling in your children being taught from the little red book (when they aren’t being taught the virtues of the reverse cowboy position) as the miscegenated hero of the revolution hangs the priests with the guts of the last capitalist.
September 13th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
So Lowry is saying all that matters is that she is able to appear conversant on the issues. That all that is required is that she be able to fake it better in interviews.
Her aides can possibly prep her enough that she can do somewhat better in interviews. Maybe. I’m not convinced that she can learn much in a few weeks. But even if she can fake it better, she cannot learn all she needs to know to be a heartbeat away in a few months. My god, look at all she didn’t know in that interview.
She doesn’t even know what an entitlement is. And that’s just one thing on the large list of things she knows nothing about.
I am far better prepared to be the vice president or president than she is. I know far more about our government, about domestic issues and about foreign policy. I know I’ve been to many more foreign countries than she has. I would bet I know more about energy than she does.
I am just an ordinary person who is very, very FAR from capable of being veep or prez. But much better prepared than she is. That’s extremely scary.
September 14th, 2008 at 12:07 am
Ed Marshall wins the thread!
September 14th, 2008 at 12:46 am
I love the idea of a “whitey-hating Marxist metrosexual.” That’s like a triple-oxymoron.
September 14th, 2008 at 1:08 am
Come on, Palin is very well qualified to be…wait for it…a lobbyist.
September 14th, 2008 at 1:39 am
Does anyone really think that this dimwit will ever be ready for any post other than that of Governor of Alaska? The woman is 44 years old and she’s dumb as a post — or just bright enough to have gotten herself and the country into this pickle! Certainly not bright enough to see what ought to have been as plain as day … That she’s being used by McCain in his panicky dottage. He has no intention of doing anything more than using her for all she’s worth right now. He’s exposed her as delusionally ambitious dummy. Heaven help us. “We can see Russia from Alaska” has made her a laughsing stock. MaryKay Cosmetics is calling. I could punch him in the nose at this point and be happy to suffer the consequences.
September 14th, 2008 at 2:40 am
Please. Sarah Palin is not even qualified to be President of the Senate. I hope they ask a question in the vice-presidential debates about the Nuclear Option and the Gang of 14. But Palin has to answer first.
September 14th, 2008 at 2:42 am
So Lowry is saying all that matters is that she is able to appear conversant on the issues. That all that is required is that she be able to fake it better in interviews.
I’m sure that Palin is watching episodes of the British series ‘Faking It’ between campaign stops. She only has to survive six weeks of it, and it’s not as if she has to pass muster among experts: get enough voters to buy it, and you have the actuarial prospect of a Reality Show President.
September 14th, 2008 at 7:51 am
what do you expect from people who supported george w. bush for the presidency? of course, to them, palin doesn’t look that bad.
September 14th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
The idiotic choice of Palin for VP illustrates the quality of the likely McCain presidential appointees to the Cabinet and agencies actually tasked with governing.
If McCain believes someone as incurious and unqualified as Palin is appropriate to step in for him some day without a lifetime spent learning national and international philosophy and policy, who will he appoint as Attorney General? (Alberto Gonzales, anyone?) What about Secretary of State – I hear Harriet Miers is free. Supreme Court? Even the Department of the Interior has an important role to play, particularly in the West where the federal government owns huge swaths of the country. Look how disastrous Christy (”the air is fine in NY”) Todd Whitman was at EPA.
It’s no laughing matter.
September 14th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
“All of which is a reminder of what a crassly political choice this was.”
Another way to put this is to notice how many supposedly serious people allow themselves to get very excited by an electrifying figure who’s basically a cipher other than their presumed adherence to conservative orthodoxy and who has little or no proven governing ability. Schwarzenegger was a prefect example, before he became kind of a liberal. The GOP was talking about amending the constitution for a guy whose public image was ready-made to win a recall election but who had to cram for a few months to bone up on the most basic policy stuff. You can just imagine what kind of GOP nominees we’d be getting if the right-wing people in beauty pageants, sports and entertainment had more political ambition.
September 15th, 2008 at 12:10 am
“She was magnificent on the Iraq-prayer question. This tends to suggest she’ll be as strong on the national issues, once she’s truly conversant with them.” Oh, puh-leeze. Her answer on that question was “magnificent” because she’d been thoroughly coached and, for once, the question she was asked matched up with the crib note she memorized. If you really believe she even KNEW about the A. Lincoln quote (or the concept he enunciated), I’ve got a — well, a bridge in Alaska to sell you. Guess we’ll find out which Republicans and conservatives have the decency to acknowledge common sense. Not many so far, it seems.
September 16th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
ed-
Sorry to interrupt your pedophilic fantasies with the fact that I’m a single male(never married) w/no children.
I drive a forklift for a living, and spend most of the rest of my life getting drunk and taunting losers on the ‘intertubes’.
A+ response!
September 28th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Let’s make her Secretary of Energy, because she knows that Alaska supplies 20 Percent of America’s Energy.
Well, maybe 3 Percent… OK, let’s NOT let her be in charge of anything.
September 29th, 2008 at 10:52 am
I love the Press Secretary idea. Point her in the right direction and tell her what to say and I think she’d do fine. Sadly, McCain’s choosing her brings to question his judgement. She’s Dan Quaile trapped in a woman’s body.
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