WHY DOES THE McCAIN CAMPAIGN CONTINUE TO PUSH PALIN'S NATIONAL SECURITY EXPERIENCE?
Sarah Palin's experience on National Security? She doesn't have any. Okay. We get it. Remember when Laura Bush - on a moment of honesty- admitted this? One would have thought that would have been a big deal, yet no one cared because she was being honest. Would voters like her to have more National Security experience? Sure. But lying and trying to retroactively trying to create these credentials is the worst thing you can do.
This is where I think the McCain Campaign is making a huge mistake. Instead of dealing with Sarah Palin's strengths, they instead try to polish and "play up" her weaknesses. The problem? This tactic is virtually see-through to the voters, and only invites more questions from the media. So instead of admitting that Governors inherently don't deal a whole lot with foreign affairs, they attempt to float the whole "Alaska is close to Russia" thing. Instead of admitting that Palin took one trip out of America to visit troops in Kuwait, they instead tried to say she also went to Iraq and Ireland. And now, on the eve of her first (and only) debate, the McCain Campaign is also dealing with another fallacy in her foreign affairs credentials.
It seems the McCain Campaign has taken to claiming "meetings" with anyone foreign who appeared at various conferences the Alaska Governor attended. One such claim is that Palin met with Britain's Ambassador to Washington, Sir Nigel Sheinwald at the U.S. Governor's meeting in July. The only problem? It turns out that the Ambassador was a last-minute cancellation to the meeting, and therefore wouldn't have been able to meet with Palin - at all.
Again, it's not the most important meeting in the world, but it still begs the question, "Why lie about it?" And why not confirm the meeting's validity prior to issuing it on a subject that's increasingly become an embarrassment of facts? After eight years of a President who's been less than honest with the American people, this tactic would seemingly be political suicide - and it looks as if that's what's happening.
In a recent Washington Post/ABC Poll, some 60% believe she lacks the experience to be an effective president - and a third are now less likely to support the McCain Campaign because of her. So with all this evidence against the propping up of Sarah Palin's resume, will we finally see some "straight talk" about her?
I wouldn't hold my breath.
This is where I think the McCain Campaign is making a huge mistake. Instead of dealing with Sarah Palin's strengths, they instead try to polish and "play up" her weaknesses. The problem? This tactic is virtually see-through to the voters, and only invites more questions from the media. So instead of admitting that Governors inherently don't deal a whole lot with foreign affairs, they attempt to float the whole "Alaska is close to Russia" thing. Instead of admitting that Palin took one trip out of America to visit troops in Kuwait, they instead tried to say she also went to Iraq and Ireland. And now, on the eve of her first (and only) debate, the McCain Campaign is also dealing with another fallacy in her foreign affairs credentials.
It seems the McCain Campaign has taken to claiming "meetings" with anyone foreign who appeared at various conferences the Alaska Governor attended. One such claim is that Palin met with Britain's Ambassador to Washington, Sir Nigel Sheinwald at the U.S. Governor's meeting in July. The only problem? It turns out that the Ambassador was a last-minute cancellation to the meeting, and therefore wouldn't have been able to meet with Palin - at all.
Again, it's not the most important meeting in the world, but it still begs the question, "Why lie about it?" And why not confirm the meeting's validity prior to issuing it on a subject that's increasingly become an embarrassment of facts? After eight years of a President who's been less than honest with the American people, this tactic would seemingly be political suicide - and it looks as if that's what's happening.
In a recent Washington Post/ABC Poll, some 60% believe she lacks the experience to be an effective president - and a third are now less likely to support the McCain Campaign because of her. So with all this evidence against the propping up of Sarah Palin's resume, will we finally see some "straight talk" about her?
I wouldn't hold my breath.
posted by Russell Arch at
10/02/2008
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