I preface my commentary by reminding my readers that the McCain/Palin campaign hand-picked ABC's Charlie Gibson for this exclusive and much anticipated interview with Sarah Palin. John McCain said that Sarah Palin would not be interviewed unless the press would handle her with deference and respect. Charlie Gibson did just that and with more grace than I have seen of anyone in the press. Compare this to the lively interviews recently held by Bill O'Reilly with Barack Obama.
Interview Night One
Full Interview Night Two
The stark contrast of the Sarah Palin interview broadcast over the backdrop of the 7th anniversary of 9/11 is mind blowing. I am in shock at the potential of someone so unqualified being elected to the second highest office in the United States of America. In a world that is increasingly dangerous surely the US would not chance putting the reigns of the most powerful seat of rule into the hands of someone who could not succeed in a middle school government class?
I thought that the McCain campaign was grandstanding by keeping Governor Palin out of the press. I figured they were setting the stage by priming the pump and that we would all be surprised at how articulately and intelligently she would handle herself. But the other option proved to be the case. McCain knew she was not ready for the public stage. Sixty days is not enough time for McCain to pull of a
The ABC website is exploding with commentary from viewers. Some are trying to put the blame on Charlie Gibson. They say he was rude and condescending. To me, he looked like a kindly tutor who was giving her obvious questions, gently couching them in such a way that he hoped she would pull off the right answer. Even when she was struggling he repeated questions leadingly to help her understand what he was asking. It was painful to watch and I believe it was more painful for Charlie than it even was for Governor Palin.
Charlie's questions dealt with the most basic information about world affairs that anyone could glean from an afternoon of listening to NPR and BBC news. This was the softball interview that should have buffeted public confidence in the McCain/Palin ticket.
Palin was not the only woman considered for the Republican ticket. McCain could have better distinguished his campaign by picking a woman tried and true such as Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is considered one of the 30 most powerful women in America. She has the experience and qualifications to lead. However, her one disqualification for McCain's base is that she is not in favor of outlawing abortion. McCain made a strategic choice in picking Palin who would energize his pro-life conservative base and create a media splash to strengthen his polling numbers. He was not showing concern for the long-term consequences of serving with Governor Palin if he should win the election. He has proven once again, he will do anything to win this election - even pick a single-issue candidate that is totally unqualified to serve in the office for which she is running and worse yet , a security threat if the worst should happen to him and she had to take the reigns of government.
(this commentary was written by a woman)
Pat Buchanan says Palin NOT Ready to Serve
A Governor or a Mayor is NOT ready to Serve
Palin vs Gibson, Round One: The ABC News Anchor Flummoxes the GOP Amateur.
Hockey Mom VS Vladimir Putin Matt Damon expresses what many in America are thinking.
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
Buzz it up
