[From 8/31/08, regarding the relative "experience" of Sarah Palin vs. Barack Obama.]To the editor:
I see that some conservatives are claiming that Sarah Palin is actually
more qualified than Barack Obama to be on a presidential ticket because she has more "executive experience" than Obama, having served as governor of Alaska for 20 months.
I guess by that metric, she has more executive experience than McCain, too. Heck, maybe she should be at the HEAD of the ticket!
What nonsense.
Look, if you prefer Palin’s conservative politics to Obama’s, that’s great. But don’t insult my intelligence by arguing that the two of them are somehow of equal stature. Because they’re not.
Obama has a law degree from Harvard. Palin has a BS in journalism from the University of Idaho.
Before going into politics, Obama served as editor of the
Harvard Law Review, was a community organizer in Chicago, and was a professor of constitutional law at the University of Chicago for twelve years. Palin was a part-time TV sports anchor and fisherwoman.
Obama has been state senator and then U.S. senator of one of our most populous states. Palin served as mayor of an Alaska hamlet and was chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission for one year before becoming governor of the 47th most populous state.
Obama is the author of several serious books about U.S. domestic and foreign policy. Palin, er, is not.
And . . . oh yes . . . during the Democratic primary, Obama defeated perhaps the most formidable political machine in the United States—the Clintons. Surely you can’t imagine Sarah Palin achieving this on her own.
So don’t come at me with the line that they’re both political neophytes. Palin is unqualified to be one heartbeat away from the presidency. It’s as simple – and as awful – as that.
