PALIN IS NOT QUALIFIED TO BE A HEARTBEAT FROM THE PRESIDENCY

According to the JED Report, Todd Harris, a GOP strategist who is close to the McCain campaign, says Sarah Palin won't be available to the press for about two weeks. His defense? She might make "a mistake." in an answer to a television news question about her not doing news conferences (the segment is now posted on You Tube), he said: "If she goes out and makes a mistake, that is something that [voters will] care about, and that's something that will haunt [McCain] for awhile, so I think this is a smart move."

This is one of the times the truth has seeped through the perpetual Repblican spin cycle: Harris is conceding that Palin's not even ready to be a vice presidential candidate, let alone be president. And apparently the news media, handling Palin with kid gloves, will allow two weeks of keeping Palin in hiding, giving set speeches, but not answering the tough questions that Obam has been answering for 21 months, and Biden has been answering since he first decided to run for President years ago. Let's face it, folks: every day the McCain campaign keeps her away from reporters just highlights the fact that they don't think she's ready.

So here we have McCain's strange choice of Palin -- and right now, showing the apparent stupidity of much of America, McCain-Palin is ahead in the polls, according to the September 8 Gallup tracking polls, by ten points among likely voters. What are those fifty per cent thinking? Here we have a 72 year old guy 4 time cancer survivor, and a heartbeat away from the Presidency is a self-proclaimed "hockey mom" who likes to kill and eat moose burgers!??? She can give a teleprompter speech, to be sure, but she has no knowledge, let alone experience, to answer questions in a press conference.

Hopefully, some of those fifty percent will wake up from their post elephant convention lobotomies and see exactly who it is they think they are so excited about. If they come to their senses, perhaps they will not just vote for her because she is a woman, or that she looks nice in those nifty $375 designer glasses. The Anchorage Daily News reported in its August 29, 2008 edition that many of Palin's local colleagues, even Republican, were rather stunned by her being chosen as McCain's vice president.

The Anchorage Daily News wrote that Alaska State Senate President Lyda Green said she thought it was a joke when someone called her at 6 a.m. to give her the news. "She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?" said Green, a Republican from Palin's hometown of Wasilla. "Look at what she's done to this state. What would she do to the nation?"

Green, who has feuded with Palin repeatedly over the past two years, brought up the big oil tax increase Palin pushed through last year. She also pointed to the award of a $500 million state subsidy to a Canadian firm to pursue a natural gas pipeline that is far from guaranteed.
Democrats helped give Palin her victories on oil taxes and the natural gas pipeline deal, over the opposition of many of Palin's fellow Republicans in the Legislature.

But Anchorage Democratic state Sen. Hollis French said it's a huge mistake by McCain and "reflects very, very badly on his judgment." French said Palin's experience running the state for less than two years hasn't prepared her for this.

Alaska Democratic Party chairwoman Patti Higgins, attending her party's national convention in Denver, said she was shocked to hear the news this morning.

"In this very competitive election for them to go pick somebody who is ... under a cloud of suspicion, who is under investigation for abuse of power. It just sounds like a pretty slow start to me," Higgins said.

The state Legislature is investigating whether Palin and her staff broke state law by pressuring the public safety department to fire a state trooper who was in a custody battle with her sister.
"We need a vice president who can step in if, God forbid, something happened to John McCain," Higgins said. "I don't think she is ready for the job,"

Of course, Palin was elected Governor of Alaska not on qualifications or on issues, but on perceived personality. The Anchorage paper interviewed Andrew Halco, who ran as an independent against Palin for Governor. He said she is a skilled campaigner, but does not win on the strength of her positions on the issues. He could not beleive that Palin was picked by McCain.

"When I first heard it, I thought, wow, that's great for Alaska. Then I thought, wait, what just happened? Because of course the lack of experience does jump out at you," Halcro said. He said her campaigning is based on quips and slogans and personality, not issues. "And suddenly people don't think about health care, they don't think about the economy, they don't think about whatever else, education," said Halcro, a self-described policy wonk. "It's not about the policy. It's about the person."

"It'll be interesting to see if that recipe works on the national stage," Halcro said.

Let us pray that it does not work this time around. We have just had eight years of a "personality" president, someone you would not mind having a beer with in a local tavern. The problem is, HIS POLICIES are what matter, and they have driven us to drink, if we had enough money after paying for our fuel and heating oil to even buy a beer.