Judy1
Mayor
I watched the HBO movie Game Change about Sarah Palin's vice presidency campaign last night. While it confirmed what many of us already knew or suspected about her, I came away from it feeling sympathetic towards her. She was Governor of a large state at the time of her selection. I think that when you live in Alaska its possible to become somewhat isolated to what's going on in the lower 48. She considered herself a "maverick" but if you look at it in the context of living in isolation from the rest of the US, it really just masked her lack of knowledge and ignorance about how the country as a whole operates and fits in with the rest of the world. I don't blame her for this, I've talked to people who've spent time in Alaska, and it is a "every person for itself" type of lifestyle. She didn't know what she didn't know. So when the McCain people selected her, how could she have possibly thought that she was underqualified? She was a governor, and many Governors have turned out to be competent Presidents. She had passion for her beliefs, which is also a good qualifier. Naivity and ignorance in this worked for her in the beginning, although I sincerely doubt that before the McCain campaign approached her she had any aspirations to higher office. Once they asked her, it was probably just a "why not?" question for her.
I felt it was more of an indictment of Steve Schmidt's selection and lack of vetting process, and a tale of caution. The consequences speak for themselves. The combination of this non vetting, and Sarah's own ignorance was a recipe for failure, which not only cost McCain the presidency, but also cost Sarah Palin her credibility.
Does this mean that Sarah Palin couldn't come back in some future run for the presidency? It's possible, but two things have to happen; she needs to learn about how the US interacts, and affects the rest of the world, understand history, think critically, and she has to learn that while it's great to have passion about her personal beliefs, as a candidate for presidency you have leave your comfortable bubble and accept that as president you has to speak for not just your own personal beliefs, but the many and varied beliefs of those that live in this country. She should pay attention to this year's campaign, both the republican primary, and the general. The results of both will show that in order to win, you must not only get the vote of your base, but also the independent vote, which typically does not lean to either extreme.
I felt it was more of an indictment of Steve Schmidt's selection and lack of vetting process, and a tale of caution. The consequences speak for themselves. The combination of this non vetting, and Sarah's own ignorance was a recipe for failure, which not only cost McCain the presidency, but also cost Sarah Palin her credibility.
Does this mean that Sarah Palin couldn't come back in some future run for the presidency? It's possible, but two things have to happen; she needs to learn about how the US interacts, and affects the rest of the world, understand history, think critically, and she has to learn that while it's great to have passion about her personal beliefs, as a candidate for presidency you have leave your comfortable bubble and accept that as president you has to speak for not just your own personal beliefs, but the many and varied beliefs of those that live in this country. She should pay attention to this year's campaign, both the republican primary, and the general. The results of both will show that in order to win, you must not only get the vote of your base, but also the independent vote, which typically does not lean to either extreme.
