The Palin Problem

Everything about John McCain’s vice president, Sarah Palin, seems like a perfect fit for the Republican ticket, but the opposite is true for the United States of America.  Part of the McCain campaign’s slogan is, “Country first,” however, by nominating Sarah Palin as vice presidential candidate, he did his country a disservice.  Palin may be the perfect Republican image, but when you look behind the strong hockey mom, you will see that her lack of experience makes the thought of Sarah Palin as President a scary one.

The possibility of Palin becoming President of the United States is an extremely real possibility, given McCain’s age.  While she may be a nice lady, that does not exactly qualify her for the position.  Palin is a former sportscaster, who was a member of the Wasilla, Alaska city council from 1996 to 2002 and elected mayor from 1996 to 2002.  Since 2006, she has held the position of Governor of Alaska.  This lack of experience will definitely hurt our country if she ever becomes President.  In fact, the recent news on Palin is that she has been declining questions from reporters to conceal her lack of knowledge and experience on issues such as foreign policy. 

She definitely did not help her reputation for lack of experience in her speech at the Republican Convention.  Her speech basically consisted of talking about McCain, talking about her family, talking about her limited job experience, and trash talking Obama.  The fact that she spent the more time trash talking Obama than any other of the previously listed topics sends a message in itself.  Instead of focusing on what she plans to do to improve our country, she chose to further the smear campaign against Obama.  The reason she did this is because she has nothing to useful to contribute other than to smile and wave for the cameras.

She spent approximately fifteen minutes bashing Obama, which was about ten minutes longer than she spent on any other topic.  This is not the kind of person who should be in the White House.  The next President must be able to stand up to the challenges of this dangerous world.  Even though she can see Russia from her house, I doubt Palin has what it takes to stand up to Russia’s crazy leader Putin.  Russia is definitely a potential threat,  and proof of this is in their recent invasion of Georgia, an attempt to gain control of a crucial oil pipeline.  Also, there is the issue of the War in the Middle East, and all of the oil drama surrounding it.  Will Muslim countries have respect for a country whose leader is a woman?  This is doubtful, considering the role of a woman in Muslim societies.  They are basically treated as property.  As long as our country is dependent on oil from the Middle East, we definitely cannot risk having a woman as President of the United States.

Former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, may have summed up the Palin family appeal best in his recent comments.  “ I get why she’s hot out there-why she’s doing well. You know, people look at her and they say-all those kids.  Something happens in everybody’s family.”  When Palin introduced her family at the Convention, it was easy to see why Palin is such a likeable candidate.  Her oldest son, Track, is an active member of the Marines, and is currently in Iraq.  Then there is her seventeen year old daughter, Bristol, who is keeping her unborn baby with eighteen year old boyfriend.  The fact that she and her boyfriend have chosen to marry each other and keep the baby is a very noble decision, and the way the two presented themselves at the Convention with all smiles made them a respectable and likeable couple.  Finally, there was Sarah and her husband Todd’s decision to keep their unborn baby after learning of his Down syndrome condition.  The way Sarah proudly described her, “ Perfectly beautiful baby boy,” named Trig, and the lovingness with which Todd held him was a very heartfelt moment.  Even the names of Palin’s five children, Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, and Trig, contribute to her image of a strong woman who is not afraid to be different.  

This image is obviously a very attractive one to the American people. I mean, how can you not like Sarah Palin after watching that speech at the Republican Convention?  The answer to that question is you cannot help but like her.  However, we are talking about the possible future President of the United States of America, the most powerful country in the world.  If it was a vote for the high school prom queen, then things would be different, however it is not, and we as a nation cannot afford to have anything less than a fully capable leader in office, something that Sarah Palin certainly is not.