An interesting article by a conservative on the McCain/Palin ticket

[tattedupboy]

I'm not sure how many of you have heard of Charles Krauthammer, but he is well-respected in the conservative community (having won a Pullitzer for distinguished commentary in 1987), and I actually found this article surprisingly insightful, and I found myself agreeing with it throughout.

Charles Krauthammer :: Townhall.com :: Incumbents for Change?

[kwo51]

Would rather have A vet than an a commie in office.

[Red Hat]

Originally Posted by kwo51

Would rather have A vet than an a commie in office.

+1 Any time!

[MrRezister]

I like Krauthammer a lot (as long as I don't have to look at him), and he seems like a genuinely intelligent person. I tend to agree with most of what he says, including this article. But I think he contradicts himself a bit by saying first that Palin is inexperienced and has not had time to establish solid positions on major issues, then turning around and saying that she appeals to both the Right Wingers and independents equally. He seems to be arguing that all it takes to appease these people is a pretty face and a little charisma. I can't speak for anyone other than myself as usual, but I could care less about Palin's gender or looks. The fact that she is correct when it comes to energy policy and security are great reasons for me to give her my attention. Her charisma and earthy appeal are just icing as far as I'm concerned. It's more important to me that Conservatives have a representative in the Whitehouse above all the other arguments. McCain is iffy in this respect, and Obama/Biden are the Voltron of anti-Conservativeness.

Another thing, the experience argument is far from over, I don't know why everyone keeps saying that Palin negates this argument against Obama. Obama is running for President and Palin is not. Palin has been a mayor and Governor. Obama has not. As far as I'm concerned, the Obama/Biden ticket is 100% upside-down with regard to experience. It is the Democrats who picked a celebrity to top their ticket, and an actual qualified politician is on the bottom. McCain/Palin has got it right, as far as I'm concerned.

As for reform, McCain has demonstrated his willingness to vote against the Republicans on issues that he things are important. (Unfortunately, he picked all the wrong issues to disagree with them on!) If he plays up his willingness to fight his own party when they are wrong, and combines that with Palin's ability to do the same, they might just have a chance. The idea being that if they are willing to stand up to their own party when the party is wrong, they will be able to affect a lot of change in DC in general. Time will only tell if that's enough to lure in the voters, and if they will be able to live up to it!

[tattedupboy]

Originally Posted by MrRezister

I like Krauthammer a lot (as long as I don't have to look at him), and he seems like a genuinely intelligent person. I tend to agree with most of what he says, including this article. But I think he contradicts himself a bit by saying first that Palin is inexperienced and has not had time to establish solid positions on major issues, then turning around and saying that she appeals to both the Right Wingers and independents equally. He seems to be arguing that all it takes to appease these people is a pretty face and a little charisma. I can't speak for anyone other than myself as usual, but I could care less about Palin's gender or looks. The fact that she is correct when it comes to energy policy and security are great reasons for me to give her my attention. Her charisma and earthy appeal are just icing as far as I'm concerned. It's more important to me that Conservatives have a representative in the Whitehouse above all the other arguments. McCain is iffy in this respect, and Obama/Biden are the Voltron of anti-Conservativeness.

Another thing, the experience argument is far from over, I don't know why everyone keeps saying that Palin negates this argument against Obama. Obama is running for President and Palin is not. Palin has been a mayor and Governor. Obama has not. As far as I'm concerned, the Obama/Biden ticket is 100% upside-down with regard to experience. It is the Democrats who picked a celebrity to top their ticket, and an actual qualified politician is on the bottom. McCain/Palin has got it right, as far as I'm concerned.

As for reform, McCain has demonstrated his willingness to vote against the Republicans on issues that he things are important. (Unfortunately, he picked all the wrong issues to disagree with them on!) If he plays up his willingness to fight his own party when they are wrong, and combines that with Palin's ability to do the same, they might just have a chance. The idea being that if they are willing to stand up to their own party when the party is wrong, they will be able to affect a lot of change in DC in general. Time will only tell if that's enough to lure in the voters, and if they will be able to live up to it!

You don't think that's true? Furthermore, don't you think that this is how Obama has so much appeal among liberals. He's not being contradictory; rather, he's just explaining it the way it is.

[MrRezister]

You may be right. Like I said, I can only speak for myself. It's possible that the lack of exerience/exposure for Obama and Palin may actually accentuate their selling points, to the degree that they haven't had enough time in power to take a lot of contradictory stands on major issues.

In that regard, I suppose a lack of experience can be seen as a plus by some - the fact that these two have not been immersed in the Washington environment for years upon years But I think that Obama and Palin are liked by their respective fans MORE for what they have said and done. The fact that they are not seen as "Insiders" could certainly serve as a secondary selling point, but not the REASON they are so well liked. I might well be very naive about this, but it seems to me that there are too many people who have too limited an idea of what "experience" means. Palin was elected to her city council in '92, so one might say she's had "experience" as an elected official 5 years before Obama got elected to the Illinois Senate. The point I'm trying to make is that "experience" in this case is mostly relative. Neither has ever been President or Vice-President, so it would be false to say that either really has the experience required for the job they are seeking. I think the reason that these two are as popular as they are has been because of their stances on the issues held important by their constituents/fans/supporters/followers/acolytes/whatever.