Dude he was a Senator for two years when he started running for President. She has been the executive officer of powdunksville for about the same amount of time. You are giving a lot of wait to a part time job.

Palin's a horrible choice but she the gulf between her and Obama in terms of experience ins't that wide.

if you go back and look at the first veep thread you started today, you'll see that a number of us pointed to this problem from the first moments we thought about it.

but i actually think that's only half of the problem; the other half is that mccain has barely met the person he thinks should be one heartbeat away from the presidency. the sheer irresonsibility of that choice reinforces all the worst suppositions about mccain the impulsive hothead.

I think this is why Obama sorta smacked down his staff member who released the early press thing that attacked Palin, and was more complimentary. The news orgs are smart enough to figure this out all on their own, and if Obama doesn't attack it, they can't claim he's a hypocrite too.

Wait, so the Obama campaign thinks she is qualified? Who is raising the question? Dude, you're entirely incoherent. The press release is out there, the campaign raised the issue. So someone should explain exactly where the line is. Obama was qualified to be president 2 years ago, after two years in the Senate, and yet she's not qualified today? Let's call this for what it is: elitism--she didn't go to the right fancy schools--and sexism--she's a she. What an ugly display. And unfortunately entire typical.

Actually, I think Obama's four years as a prominent national politician (let's not even count his 8 years as an Illinois state senator) counts for vastly more than a year and half governing Alaska.

But yes, it's probably smartest for the Obama campaign to hold their tongue and let the internal contradictions in the Republican message play themselves out.

Obama has run a presidential campaign for a year and a half, plus wrote 2 best selling books, plus went to Harvard Law School and edited the law review, plus the fact that the Illinois State Senate is a lot more involved job than being mayor of a small Alaskan town and 4 years in the US Senate is a lot more involved than 2 years as a part-time governor of a tiny-population state, especially since much of that time was spent on maternity leave.

Also, Democrats win this argument even if Obama is assumed to be no more experienced than Palin. The point is that Republicans and McCain in particular are liars when they claim they think that executive experience is so important. If McCain, god forbid, has a stroke on February 1, a totally unprepared lightweight will be in control of the country. (Contrast this with George W. Bush-- for all my problems with Dick Cheney, I have no doubt that he would be able to run the government if something happened to the President.)

This is Dan Quayle all over again.

Thomas, you're full of crap. What are Palin's foreign policy qualifications? What national issues has she dealt with? What was her experience before being governor, even? She was mayor of her tiny hometown.

Let me say I think the campaign was right to rebuke her inexperience. Why not make sure it gets discussed right away? He took care of his own readiness questions last night.

That was exemplary trolling. Kudos, Thomas.

ok just take a second and read these stats.
in 2000 the population of wasilla was 5469. Thats how big wasilla was when she was there. Most of you went to high schools bigger then that.

It does not in any way compare to being a state senator from illinois, or any other populus state. Obama was senator for 2 years when he started running, which was then longer then pallin has been gov of alaska. Gov of a state with 500k people in it! The mayor of new york is responsible for 19x as many people then the gov. of alaska.

She is touting her experience as 'commander and chief of the alaska national guard'. *scoff* So who exactly have they attacked recently? How many decisions has she personally made in that capacity? or is that just another moniker that she can claim but hasnt actually done anything with?

This is a bad bad joke..the worst part of it is that the republicans are doing it with a straight face.

in 2000 the population of wasilla was 5469. Thats how big wasilla was when she was there. Most of you went to high schools bigger then that.

I don't know, that would be a really, really big high school.

I think the response is pretty simple. Here's how I would have crafted a release:

"We used to think that the biggest disagreements were between Senator McCain and Candidate McCain. But candidate McCain told all of you that a potential president needed to be ready to lead from day one. A potential president must have the experience necessary to lead a country through a critical point in our history. Candidate McCain told you that Barack Obama didn't have that experience.

Does Candidate McCain really believe that Governor Palin, who has served the nation's fourth smallest state for less than two years, has the experience necessary to lead this country from day 1? Candidate McCain doesn't even agree with Candidate McCain anymore. How can you trust a man whose positions not only change from election from election, but from day to day?"

But wait. I thought Petey told us all this was just a part of McCain's grand master chess plan, and that the people in Sedona are the smart ones. Or some such nonsense.

You mean to tell me he was full of shit? INCONCEIVABLE!

Does Candidate McCain really believe that Governor Palin, who has served the nation's fourth smallest state for less than two years, has the experience necessary to lead this country from day 1?

Yeah, piss on Alaska. That would be a great approach. You don't piss on any state, no matter what. That would be . . . impolitic. "Palin? From Alaska? That state doesn't even count!" You just don't do it, and clearly the Obama campaign understands that.

On the other hand, the attack on Palin's experience isn't going to persuade a single McCain voter to switch. Certainly, most of the base is more excited about Palin than McLame. In fact, it'll be really easy to overplay the inexperience card--and bring up the size of Alaska one to many times--and lose the issue entirely.

On the other hand, it's not the size of Obama's experience that I'm worried about. It's what he'd do with it. The ticket could be Biden/Obama or Hillary/Biden and I'd probably still feel the same way. The collective experience of a Hillary/Biden ticket would be impressive, but the progressive policies would still disqualify them as folks I'd ever consider voting for. And the taxes. Oh, the taxes!

Palin/McCain 2008!

Win or lose the McCain campaign got more out of this selection than it lost. There was no perfect VP candidate out there. While they lose some gunpowder for their experience line of attack, they gain quite a bit in a reform message.

Palin took on the corrupt state party machine of Alaska. McCain also has a history of occasionally taking a stand against his best interest. Obama was a go-with-the-flow person in the infamous Chicago political behemoth. Biden has no real record of government reform.

Ezra, you run a fine blog but you really have to do something about finding better-quality trolls. This lot are too pathetic to even have entertainment value. Borrrring.

Yeah, piss on Alaska. That would be a great approach. You don't piss on any state, no matter what. That would be . . . impolitic. "Palin? From Alaska? That state doesn't even count!" You just don't do it, and clearly the Obama campaign understands that.

Oh please, pointing out that Alaska isn't a very populous state is far from pissing all over it. Besides, a major pillar of the entire conservative movement is pissing all over the entire west coast and northeast. But heaven forbid we offend Alaska!

And the taxes. Oh, the taxes!

Wow, you must be loaded.

Yeah, piss on Alaska. That would be a great approach. You don't piss on any state, no matter what. That would be . . . impolitic. "Palin? From Alaska? That state doesn't even count!" You just don't do it, and clearly the Obama campaign understands that.

Oh please, pointing out that Alaska isn't a very populous state is far from pissing all over it. Besides, a major pillar of the entire conservative movement is pissing all over the entire west coast and northeast. But heaven forbid we offend Alaska!

And the taxes. Oh, the taxes!

Wow, you must be loaded.

Chicago statehouse? It's a primate city, sure, but the folks downstate are probably going to have something to say.

You don't piss on any state, no matter what. That would be . . . impolitic.

I don't know it worked well with Rove's "Massachusetts Liberal" shtick.

Besides the filthy oil giants and the grizzlies and the sheer landmass (yawn), Alaska is nothing, less than nothing. It's full of mountain goat loving rednecks and drunk Eskimos. Nobodies living nowhere and Palin shows exactly why Alaska is a nowhere.

Alaska is a goddam joke. Besides the filthy oil giants and the grizzlies and the sheer landmass (yawn), Alaska is nothing, less than nothing. It's full of mountain goat loving rednecks and drunk Eskimos, nobodies living nowhere and Palin shows exactly why Alaska is a nowhere.

sorry about the double post, I'm not even drunk or loving a goat right now unlike all those Alaskans.

But wait. I thought Petey told us all this was just a part of McCain's grand master chess plan, and that the people in Sedona are the smart ones. Or some such nonsense.

You mean to tell me he was full of shit? INCONCEIVABLE!

You dare to question whether Petey is full of shit??????

It is obvious, Petey is full of shit.

He is also amazingly accurate at being wrong.

None can compete with Petey in terms of being wrong.

Yeah, piss on Alaska. That would be a great approach. You don't piss on any state, no matter what. That would be . . . impolitic. "Palin? From Alaska? That state doesn't even count!" You just don't do it, and clearly the Obama campaign understands that. On the other hand, the attack on Palin's experience isn't going to persuade a single McCain voter to switch.

Good god your a fucking moron, Kevin.

First, no one is pissing on Alaska. Personally, I love the place. My brother lives there. I visit quite often. But I'm not going to shed any tears about losing three electoral votes that the Dems weren't likely to win anyway. Really, if McCain needs Palin to carry Alaska, the election is already over.

Second, it's not an attack on Palin's experience, dipshit. It's an attack on McCain's claim that experience is so important. He can't make that claim with a straight face and look over at his running mate. It's ludicrous. It's not about getting people to switch. It's about convincing independent's that McCain is full of crap.

Honestly, do you anything about politics, or are you just a lying sack of crap? If you answer "I'm a Republican", I'll assume the answers are "No" and "Yes" to those two questions.

I'm almost certain I saw Palin on an episode of MILF Hunter.

If McCain has anyone to blame for the choice of Obama, it's the American voters. Why does he hate the American voter? He, however, picked his VP. For that he will have to take the blame. Unless he wants to use the POW card again.

And also while Obama doesn't have that much "experience" it is at least evident that he has at least spent some time thinking about foreign policy issues. On the eve of the Iraq war, he gave a well-reasoned speech explaining his opposition to it.

A couple months ago Palin was asked about the war and ... she said she hadn't really thought about it.

First question a reporter should ask Palin: "Do you think Obama has sufficient experience to be President?" How does she answer that in a way that doesn't put the nail in the coffin of McCain's campaign?

Good god your a fucking moron, Kevin.

Well, then. If you put it that way . . .

Seriously, do you talk to people in person like that?

What am I saying? Of course you do.

First, no one is pissing on Alaska. Personally, I love the place. My brother lives there. I visit quite often. But I'm not going to shed any tears about losing three electoral votes that the Dems weren't likely to win anyway. Really, if McCain needs Palin to carry Alaska, the election is already over.

That's not really the point, but I'll concede it. I just think trying to attack Palin by using the fact she's from Alaska is not particularly smart. But I could be wrong: saying Alaska doesn't matter, it's small, my high school was bigger--maybe that's the way to beat McCain in November.

Second, it's not an attack on Palin's experience, dipshit.

I've got a name, Seitz. You don't have to use it or anything. "Dipshit" is fine.

It's an attack on McCain's claim that experience is so important. He can't make that claim with a straight face and look over at his running mate.

I tend to agree with that. I never thought much of McCain's experience argument. People don't vote for experience so much as they vote for what they expect from a candidate, policy wise. And I wasn't saying otherwise, I just think making a big deal of Alaska's insignificance in comparison to big, important states like Delaware is something of a slam, and isn't real bright because it could easily be interpreted as elitism, and a certainly hostility to flyover country. I could certainly be wrong about that. It might very well be the most brilliant political move ever.

I suppose time will tell.

Honestly, do you anything about politics,

Do I what about politics? I think you're missing a word there.

or are you just a lying sack of crap? If you answer "I'm a Republican", I'll assume the answers are "No" and "Yes" to those two questions.

I'm a conservative and a registered Republican. Never said any different. Haven't voted for a Democrat (yet) in my life. Considered voting for our governor, Phil Bredesen and Harold Ford Jr. (I was very dubious of our McCain-ish Bob Corker, who became the only freshman Republican senator to win in 2006) but ended up voting for him, anyway.

Love you, too, sweety.

Sarah Palin could just be the first VPILF.

"VPILF Hunter" can't be too far behind. Would be hard to make an ongoing series of that (not enough VPILFs to choose from), unless you went on to governors (GILF Hunter), Senators (SILF Hunters) and Mayors . . . which would be MILF again. Not sure how that would work.

Sarah Palin was making executive decisions before Ezra Klein had hair on his genitals. Specifically, two weeks ago.

Does Candidate McCain really believe that Governor Palin, who has served the nation's fourth smallest state for less than two years, has the experience necessary to lead this country from day 1?

As opposed to a senator from the sixth smallest state. Who has no executive experience. And who was about to retire. Because his hair plugs are wearing out.

""Obama doesn't think four years in the US Senate and eight in the Chicago statehouse are insufficient""

Obama hasn't had 4 years in the Senate, he had 143 work days and then was back on the campaign trail. Do you really count time running for office as credit toward actually working in an office?

Eight years in the part time Statehouse gig consisted of working two other real jobs as a proffessor and a lawyer and having addtl time to write two books. Sounds like that was grueling work.

He did managed to work up the energy to vote 'present' and stop the Babies Born Alive Act to make sure no one was punished with children.

Obama has no EXECUTIVE experience at all. He's never been in charge of anything bigger then a 35 member Senate office and he's at the TOP of the ticket.

Palin has had to deal with executive decisions and execute day to day operations, implement a budget, oversee thousands of employees, set agendas for every department of government, set priorities, hire people for multiple job areas, work with the military, Homeland Security, Border security, etc.
She's dealt with emergency reponse, 3 AM phone calls and everything that comes with actually running a government.

Obama has done NONE of that at all. He votes 'yes', 'no', BUT MOSTLY 'PRESENT' along with 100 other people and goes home.

""Barack Obama doesn't think four years in the US Senate and eight in the Chicago statehouse are insufficient. ""

HA HA HA

THEN WHY DID HE PICK JOE BIDEN?

For his Fresh new CHANGE and HOPE ideas?

For his outside the beltway views?

Biden was a crutch, McCain didn't feel the need for a crutch.

If Obama actually thought he was fully capable, then why didn't he go with Tim Kaine or another ouside the beltway change agent rather then dusty old Biden who has been in Washington Obamas entire adult life. It was an admission he didn't think he was ready.

""First question a reporter should ask Palin: "Do you think Obama has sufficient experience to be President?" How does she answer that in a way that doesn't put the nail in the coffin of McCain's campaign?"""

PALIN: I think the voters will decide. I think they will compare Senator Obamas experience to that of Senator McCain and see who has the breadth of life experiences, the strenght of character, the courage of their service and there lifetimes of judgement to decide who best they believe is their choice. And they can certainly look at who they picked as their VP choice to see who was more likely to bring change and a fresh perspective to Washington. Who are the real reformers, the true mavericks. We have faith in the voters."

" Could someone wake Joe up. We have a debate starting in 30 minutes"

The real question is the double-standard that McCain has applied to the VP slot - he has said, repeatedly, that national security issues are key, and that having experience in these issues is the most important. Then he cites Obama's lack of experience in these areas. Then, he puts a VP on the ticket with no experience in this area. Total contradiction.

While the Palin nomination is a farce, it did accomplish the feat of bumping the Obama acceptance speech right off the airwaves. Point.Set.Match

BTW: WTF is a 'mooseburger'?

While the Palin nomination is a farce, it did accomplish the feat of bumping the Obama acceptance speech right off the airwaves. Point[sic].Set.Match

It's actually Game. Set. Match.

Winning a Game means that the player has scored at least 4 points. Winning a set means that the player has won at least 6 games. Winning a match means that the player has won at least 3 sets.

Perhaps, at best, McCain won a game. There are many games in a set and many sets in a match. Over on MattY's blog, someone pointed to a quote from David Plouffe observing that the McCain's organization is "a war room masquerading as a campaign."

Another example of McCain's camp not thinking their argument's through: When they say Palin has two more years of executive experience than Obama, they seem to overlook the fact that she has two more years of executive experience than John McCain as well.

McCain's camp has failed to think its argument through in another way: When they say Palin has two more years of executive experience than Obama, they seem to overlook the fact that she has two more years of executive experience than John McCain as well.

Actually, Jim, John McCain commanded a fighter training squadron which won the Meritorious Unit Commendation. Anyone with military experience knows that a CO has an extreme amount of executive responsibility.

Guess that's not you though, huh?

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