People More Qualified…

Welcome to our feature, People More Qualified Than Sarah Palin for VP!

This is a daily list of people who are more qualified for the vice presidency than John McCain’s choice, Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin. Check back daily for the latest nominee!

 

#5) Stephen Glass

When the news broke that Glass, a rising political reporter for the venerable New Republic, lied in dozens of his stories in a handful of the nation’s largest magazines, the public was rightly outraged.

As the news brakes now that Sarah Palin lied and continues to lie on the campaign trail, why hasn’t there been a similar outrage? Palin has spent the better part of a week now reiterating this notion that she somehow fought against the infamous Bridge to Nowhere, the poster child of wasteful earmarks that John McCain claims to oppose.

As it turns out, Palin supported the Bridge to Nowhere, and even after the project was tabled after much public outcry, Palin kept every penny and used it for other projects of her choosing in Alaska, like studying seal DNA and the mating patterns of local crabs. Why is a journalist lying to the American people worse than a potential vice president lying to the American people? Or for that matter a current president?

As far as I am concerned, Glass has paid his debt to society. He was publically embarrassed, fired from his job, and had Hayden Christensen portray him in the movie “Shattered Glass.”

Palin has yet to be anything close to apologetic for lying to the American people. Its not a surprise of course, since her party has made it clear that when it comes to priorities, getting elected so they can further destroy the fabric of this country places well ahead of honesty and integrity.

#4: Hillary Clinton

Clinton came closer than any woman before her to the nomination of a major political party, she has years of experience both as a senator of one of the largest states in the country and as the first lady for eight years, working hard on issues like health care. 

So it was a particularly stinging slap in the face to Hillary, her supporters, and women worldwide when McCain introduced the world to his replacement of Senator Clinton. 

It has become quite clear that the selection of Sarah Palin as the Republican nominee for vice president was made for short-term political gain rather than after careful deliberations of the qualifications of her governance. Fortunately, most Clinton supporters are smarter than the average McCain supporter, and see through the political ploy, as evidenced by two polls.

From Gallup:

Among Democratic women — including those who may be disappointed that Hillary Clinton did not win the Democratic nomination — 9% say Palin makes them more likely to support McCain, 15% less likely.

And from Rasmussen:

Some 38% of men said they were more likely to vote for McCain now, but only 32% of women. By a narrow 41% to 35% margin, men said she was not ready to be president — but women soundly rejected her, 48% to 25%

#3: Julie Kang

Julie Kang is a business owner in Washington D.C. Her company, World of Snacks, is a wholesaler with clientele across the city and the surrounding area. Located at 1510 H Street NW., Kang has front row seats of the White House.

Her daily proximity to arguably one of the most important buildings in the world more than qualifies her for the position of John McCain’s Vice President. How could someone who spends so much time close to something not be an expert on it? A custodian at MIT must surely be a premiere physicist. A garbage man for Microsoft must be a computer genius. A Governor of Alaska must surely be an encyclopedia on Russia.

“Alaska is right next to Russia. She understands that…So she is experienced.”

That is from the mouth of John McCain during an interview with ABC News. Sadly, McCain is not the first person to make that argument.

Somehow, a first term governor who has left the country exactly one time is a foreign policy guru because her state happens to be geographically near Russia. Clearly, John McCain still has a piece of shrapnel doing some damage upstairs.

#2: Joe Heilman. 

If you haven’t heard of Joe Heilman, don’t worry, neither did we until we began our search for People More Qualified Than Sarah Palin. Turns out, Heilman is the student body president at North Dakota State University, a Fargo, ND public school with an official enrollment of 10,403 undergraduate students. As student body president, Heilman was responsible for representing the best interest of the students of NDSU, much like a mayor would represent the best interests of his or her town. 

Sarah Palin was the mayor of Wassila, Alaska, a town with over a thousand fewer residents than the student population of NDSU. If she is qualified for the vice presidency, why isn’t Heilman? He has a constituency that is several hundred people larger than Palins! Plus, chances are he never headed up fundraising efforts for an indicted senator.

UPDATE: Thanks to SB student Sarah Marshall for bringing an additional point to light. Whereas Heilman’s service as student government president was, as far as we can tell, scandal-free, Palin’s term as mayor was nearly recalled when it was discovered that she fired town officials who failed to meet her expectations of loyalty. And no, I’m not talking about the trooper-gate scandal. This was a prior incident.

#1) Every other Republican candidate. Ever.

Forget the despicable policies of people like Mitt Romney, Bobby Jindal, and Tim Pawlenty. At least they have considerable experience commanding a constituency. Yes Sarah Palin is currently a governor, but she has held the position for a total of 18 months. And the state she leads happens to have the fourth smallest population in the country, hardly an accurate portrayal of the remaining 300 million people. 

Plus, Romney, Jindal and, too a lesser extend Pawlenty, have all been on a national stage before, answering tough questions from the media on foreign policy and national issues like the economy. Palin?

“I say this of course looking at the situation we’re in right now at war not knowing what the plan is to ever end the war that we’re engaged in.”

That was from an interview with Time Magazine just weeks before McCain’s decision was announced. How could a Vice Presidential candidate “not [know] what the plan is to ever end the war?” How could McCain not sit down with each and every candidate and not outline his plan for Iraq? Granted, he has yet to do it with the American people, but what should we think if he doesn’t even do it with his second in command?

If John McCain wants to put someone who mimics his policies a heartbeat away from the presidency, is it really too much to ask for someone who can at least pretend to have a grasp of what’s going on in the world?