McCain/Palin v. Obama/Biden

[Leto Eu`Acumen]

Obviously the Obama campaign isn't running on experience. (as opposed to the McCain campaign that was). But even in spite of that, lets take a real look at what we are comparing here:

Obama got a JD (Juris Doctor) law degree from Harvard Law School graduating magna cum laude and was the President of the Harvard Law Review.

Palin got a Bachelors degree in Communications-Journalism with a minor in Political Science from the University of Idaho.


Obama has taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago Law School for 12 years, served in the Illinois State Senate for 8 years and served in the United States Senate for 4 years.

Palin has been a Member of the PTA, Mayor of the city of Wasilla, Alaska for 10 years, and the Governor of Alaska for 2 years.


I dare anyone here to deny that the main job of the Vice President is to be ready to fill in for the President at a moments notice. Besides waiting for an exact 50/50 vote in the Senate to make a tie-breaking vote or going on diplomatic missions when the Secretary of State just isn't enough prestige to bring to the table, their real duty is to be prepared to fill the shoes of the President.

For the McCain campaign that has been harping on experience going way way back into the Republican Primary when even Mitt Romney's and Mike Huckabees' experience as governors of Massachusetts and Arkansas (respectively) wasn't enough, to nominate a vice president that literally has to talk about her experience as a member of the PTA and Mayor of a town of 6,500 people as highlighted parts of her qualifications in addition to the 20 months as Governor of Alaska is laughable. Frankly people shouldn't be surprised if others are rolling their eyes at the pick after the arguments McCain has been making about the importance of experience.

Now, you guys can talk about Obamas experience all you want, but how do you think that argument sounds when the person John McCain himself feels is the best person in the United States to be first in line to the Presidency is Sarah Palin? The argument is empty.

As I said already, Obama was never running on experience - that was McCains argument.

Now I do have to say that strategically speaking, it is not a good idea for Obama supporters to bring up any experience argument. Even in spite of the Sarah Palin pick, it is just not an argument that is going to help Obama. However, the Sarah Palin pick does neutralize the argument for both sides - at least if either side wants to be taken seriously - and that is a big win for Obama as the biggest argument against his candidacy was the experience argument.


Before anybody says (again), "But Sara Palin isn't running for President, she is running for Vice President!"...... Please. I said it once and I am going to say it again. The Vice Presidents primary job is being ready to be President at a moments notice. They are first in line to the Presidency. Period.

If you have been making the argument that Senator Obama is not qualified to be President - then you damn well better be making the argument that Sarah Palin isn't qualified to be first in line to be President also or you are just talking straight out your ass.

Originally Posted by AladainAF

You know the democrats are in trouble where the only two things they can come out with about Palin is her lack of experience (which rivals Obamas lack), and whether or not she was REALLY pregnant.

Come on Dems, you can do better than that!

This is true. Fortunately for Dems, there is Trooper-gate and other nifty little fun and surprises lurking around...

But that said, AladainAF is correct in the sense that arguing her experience or going on an inquisition about her most recent pregnancy is a big time loser. Arguing her MILF status needs to continue however, I do need more ...ah-hem....visual evidence....to examine.

Since the first day when there was an initial press release talking about her (in)experience, the official Obama campaign has only complimented Palin on her nomination and otherwise ignored it and are keeping their focus on McCain. That is the winner.

This is my thoughts on the Sarah Palin nomination: Her positions on many issues are pretty far right: anti-abortion even including the cases of incest and rape, creationism (not intelligent design mind you, but creationism) taught in schools, etc....and this makes her appeal most to the republican right...which admittedly McCain was weak with, and this helps him there. However I do not see it helping him very much with independents and moderate democrats....even the women voters. When Palin last brought up Hillary Clintons name at the McCain-Palin rally, it got a whole lot of boo'ing from the crowd who made it very clear they want nothing to do with that name. Hillary Clinton being boo'd in the same instant that Palin is making the case for former Hillary voters isn't going to get a lot of traction - not to mention she is opposite on almost all issues and has no national reputation to rely on.

I see the progress with Low-information voters being a mixed bag. Yes, I fully agree that it could bring some womens' votes who otherwise don't pay attention to things (you know, people who would vote for somebody on the bottom of the ticket based on their genitalia rather than the top of the ticket based on their politics).... But I also think that for many of those same low-information voters there are those who would vote for Obama as well for no better reason than him being a minority, as well as plenty of people who wouldn't want to vote for either one just because they don't want a women or a black man anywhere near the white house. Don't underestimate the number of people who don't think a women should be a heartbeat away from being Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful military in history or the leader of the most powerful nation in the world. It is part of the reason no party has put a women on the ticket since the Democrats did it with Geraldine Ferraro a quarter of a century ago and why it really was such a big deal that Hillary was able to get 18 million votes this time around. That shit ain't easy and there is a lot of resistance to it.

If just putting a woman on the ticket was such a great way to get votes, both Democrats and Republicans would have been doing it a lot more for a long time now. It is an 'out of the box' pick for a reason.


What we _should_ be talking about right now is what is going on with the Republican National Convention, which is changing by the minute.

[Arbitrary]

Sure, if you have that belief system than fine. On a similar note I would treat anyone that extreme the same way I would treat anyone who believed space iguanas were responsible for the origins of life - I would dismiss them as not being rational beings.

[MrSpitz]

I wish I knew what either campaign was actually running on

VP's are supposed to be important, but they are first and foremost campaign gimmicks before anything else. Biden can shore up foreign policy and experience for Obama, Palin can shore up the religous right for McCain. The VP pick hasn't been about readiness to lead the country for a while now. But it is fun to compare the two, especially when democratic supporters attack Palin's experience


Why don't we talk about healthcare?

[MrSpitz]

What if Space Iguanas represented change and came to lead us and wrote a book?

[Malakriss]

Originally Posted by MrSpitz

What if Space Iguanas represented change and came to lead us and wrote a book?

Were they born in the US and lived for over 35 Earth years?

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Most democrats aren't attacking Palin's experience, they are attacking the hypocrisy of John McCain to go on and on about how Obama wasn't experienced enough for the job and then choosing someone so inexperienced in national politics to replace him if he died.

[Malakriss]

Originally Posted by Nebuchadnezzar

Most democrats aren't attacking Palin's experience, they are attacking the hypocrisy of John McCain to go on and on about how Obama wasn't experienced enough for the job and then choosing someone so inexperienced in national politics to replace him if he died.

McCain doesn't even have to kick the bucket, he only has to be incapacitated before his VP takes over. It's not just "one heartbeat away" it's only "one health issue".

[Dokomo]

If McCain says Obama doesn't have the experience to be President and then nominates someone with less experience to be ready to be President, then logically, on one statement he must be lying. Either way, it ruins his reputation as a straight talker, when anyone with a grasp on logic can point out his lies.

[Kaio]

If the general sentiment is that Palin is easily far less qualified but Obama cannot use it as a campaign arguiing point, I agree. Anyone who think she is as well qualified as Obama should just stop having opinions.

I can see the hypocrisy argument working though. Introduce the hypocrisy argument then hammer McCain down on his stupidity (second to last in a class of like 900) and that milf down on her political experience as a mayor of a city of under 9,000 and governor of a state that is mostly uninhabited for a mere two years.

[Leto Eu`Acumen]

Joint-ticket Biography ad for Obama-Biden:



No idea where they are running it etc.

[TheMarauder]

I like how when people bring up that since Palin was Governor of an entire state, that automatically makes her more experienced than Obama. By that logic, she would be more qualified than McCain.

The fact that she doesn't have views regarding foreign policy or even a view of the economy alone should make you EXTREMELY wary of this woman. But hey, give it a few days and I'm sure the Republican party honchos will tailor some nice conservatives views for her to use.

[MrSpitz]

Who cares about experience, have you seen her legs?

Right now, change vs legs, who wins. BRB gotta go start some change

[Mimirswell]

Originally Posted by Leto Eu`Acumen

Joint-ticket Biography ad for Obama-Biden:



No idea where they are running it etc.

It seemed fairly clear it was targeted at PA.

[Leto Eu`Acumen]

Originally Posted by Mimirswell

It seemed fairly clear it was targeted at PA.

Agreed, I just haven't seen which media markets it is running in etc.

Where I live, I see a lot of political ads not because of the region/state I live in, but because of the media market a couple hours south of here which is in another state entirely.

[krozman]

I've read a lot on this thread about how Obama is less experienced than Palin, or vice versa. Theres no doubt over McCain's or Biden's experience in Washington it seems.

The real question, in my mind, doesn't seem to be "who's more prepared to assume the role" as "who's more prepared to bring new and fresh ideas to the table and attempt to do it in an unconventional way."

I think a lot of people are willing to cross party lines and vote for a candidate that believes they can make forward progress, and I like McCain and Palin's thought process of making that forward progress more than I like Obama's thinking, and Biden is nothing but a lifelong senator whos never had a job other than being a politician. What does that say about a person?

Both JFK and Bill Clinton were very very young, but they brought such a fresh intelligence to the table that America benefitted. I'm willing to take the risk on someone young and fresh than waste another 4-8 years on "more of the same." I think Obama is in too deep and can't justify a single intelligent thought into actual action because he's honestly never done it yet. He can talk change, but bringing it takes executive experience, which only Palin has.