Alaska National Guard General: Palin Plays No Role In National Defense Activities Even When They Involve The Alaska National Guard

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Wait, now, say the Republicans. You think that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin lacks experience? You think that at 44, with less than two years running the nation's northernmost state, she doesn't have what it takes yet to be a heartbeat away from the presidency?

Pshaw.

What about the fact that she stood up to embattled Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens? What about her oversight of her state's National Guard contingent? Her experience as a mother? And, hey _ what about the fact that she runs a state that happens to be very close to Russia?

Each of these characteristics has been cited by a Republican since Friday as an ingredient in John McCain's conclusion that Palin is qualified to become vice president of the United States.

"She has experience not only in politics but in life," former Republican Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee said Sunday on CNN.

None of this suggests that Sarah Palin is not a skilled, competent, multitalented public servant. But it means that, in the face of fierce Democratic assertions that she is too green to be elevated to vice president, the GOP is looking for whatever it can to show that's not the case and to bolster her credentials, particularly in national security.

And in some cases, the responses from Republicans who showed up on the Sunday morning talk-show circuit to promote Palin's qualifications are unexpected, to say the least.

Thompson: "She's a mother of five children. ... And she has more experience than Barack Obama."

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Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina: "Governor Palin took on Ted Stevens. If she can take him on, she can take on the Russians." Stevens, a Republican senator, is facing corruption charges and running for re-election.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty: "Palin is commander-in-chief of the Alaskan National Guard." The state's Guard has about 4,000 members.

From McCain's wife, Cindy, came a geographic assessment of qualification: "Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia. So, it's not as if she doesn't understand what's at stake here."

What these traits say about Palin's ability to serve as vice president or, in an emergency, as president is not entirely clear. But the flurry of comments by leading Republicans hint at a flood-the-zone strategy when it comes to Palin, whose gender, Christian faith and conservative chops infused a lively crackle into John McCain's campaign during the weekend between the two national conventions.

The GOP has also implied that Democratic reactions to Palin's selection are sexist, particularly since, they contend, her time as Alaska's governor gives her the edge over Barack Obama in executive experience. Obama, 47, has spent almost 12 years in office, all of it as a lawmaker _ eight years as an Illinois state senator and nearly four as a U.S. senator. Palin's total is 12 _ she spent 10 as a city council member and mayor, and nearly two as governor.

"If they want to go down that route, in all candor, she has far more experience than Senator Obama does," McCain said Sunday in St. Louis.

Democrats insist sexism isn't at play. "It's not the woman issue at all," former Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota said Sunday on CNN. "There are a lot of other Republican women who could have filled this role if that is what he was looking for" _ such as Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation," saw a kindred spirit in Palin's experience as mayor, despite the fact that her town, Wasilla, has about 7,000 people and his had nearly 8 million when 9/11 happened.

"Maybe it's my own background as a mayor and United States attorney, but this whole idea of executive experience to me would really qualify her," Giuliani said. He dismissed questions about the size of the town she ran. "You know why? She had to make decisions. All Sen. Obama has had to do is talk. That's all he does."

Some of the comments seemed a bit non-sequitur. Russia, for example.

Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard, considers Palin "extremely responsive and smart" and says she is in charge when it comes to in-state services, such as emergencies and natural disasters where the National Guard is the first responder.

But, in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, he said he and Palin play no role in national defense activities, even when they involve the Alaska National Guard. The entire operation is under federal control, and the governor is not briefed on situations.

Stephen C. Donehoo, managing director of Kissinger McLarty Associates in Washington, and former military intelligence officer specializing in Latin America:

"No doubt the campaign staff have her hooked up to a fire hose on foreign policy issues," said Stephen C. Donehoo, managing director of Kissinger McLarty Associates in Washington and a former military intelligence officer.

"No doubt they fear a debate with Joe Biden that touches foreign affairs," Donehoo said. "My guess is Graham and (Joe) Lieberman are doing a lot of tutoring."

Republican Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota appears to have no such worries, given what he considers to be Obama's lack of experience.

"The president sets the tone," Coleman said. "The experience issue is on the other side. The No. 1 guy there is the guy without the experience."

___

Contributing to this report were AP writers Tom Raum, Jim Kuhnhenn, Glen Johnson and Nestor Ikeda in St. Paul and Anne Sutton in Juneau, Alaska.

Comments

[jetgirl]

On top of Obama's experience in office, he was a constitutional (remember that republicans) law professor and just ran one of the best run campaigns ever in the history of politics taking out the juggernaut of the Clintons in the process. He's more then proven himself. What exactly has Sarah Palin done?

[SeeDaddy]

Sexest or stupid? "She a mother ... she's got more experience." Oh, fathers don't get experience, only mothers? Define "experience" please.

Also, senators don't make decisions? What are all those voting things they do on bills, and all those committee activities tabout then?

[08politicaljunkie]

This article got me fired up. The first time I've felt ire on this site. Here we go:

If "all Sen. Obama has had to do is talk. That's all he does," the same is applied to John McCain, Joe Biden and every other Senator. Therefore, Sarah Palin, in under two years as governor of Alaska, has acquired more experience than John McCain has in the 26 years he's served as a senator for Arizona. All he's had to do is talk, lobby and write opinions.

And if they're going to use Palin's motherhood as transferrable skills and experience, then the actions of her minor offspring come into play. They demonstrate her ability to make and enforce policy. And I want to see some school records: Grades, attendance, health and behavior.

[Ellema]

I agree. I very much appreciate the governor of my state and the town manager, but never for a second, thought of either as a vice presidential candidate. The repugs are spinning themselves out of their own sense of importance.

[XLintLuvR]

I agree with you 100%. There's only one problem. They home schooled the children.

[08politicaljunkie]

Where'd you get that?

http://aprn.org/2007/08/29/governor-palin-drawing-criticism-over-her-kids-school-enrollments/

[rudyacuna]

Stupid. Lindsay Graham and his gaggle of Republicans would be savaging Democrats. And look at their record in not only opposing but maligning affirmative action.

[drzoon]

her "experience" is laughable. and her education is so thin that we can't find out if she ever had a class in "international" ANYTHING.

she is just a laughable laughable choice.

actually... this stupid country might just go for her!

[spyda]

You got that right this aint no Fox News where as long as you're a rethug you can say and do as you please!! Get real this woman is no more qualified than I am and I know damn well I don't know what the hell I'm doing on that level!! Its so funny they are spinning their heads off thrying to pass her on to the people who might be stupid enough to vote for McDumbass! She first needs to get the baby story straight before she really get s herself screwed up! This is so laughable and they know everyone will be watching close to.Oh and I wanna see the real stomach cause we know they can't be trusted enough not to pillow her up!! These people are gutless! OBAMA/BIDEN'08

[smit9187]

torrrep the terrible, let's just say Barrack has more than your little weak brains will ever acknowledge.

[AdobePhsyko]

This choice for VP is LAUGHABLE.
Even a staunch Repug would have to laugh at these statements.

But , Cindy McCains response has to take the cake "She was Governor of the state closest to Russia.
I'm starting to get more and more optomistic by the day.
Obama might get our country back for us.

[Polaris1]

WAKE UP everyone...connect the dots. We cannot afford another 4 years of Bush. Whether you like Obama or not, he will have the opportunity to appoint a supreme court justice, heads of the environment, education, health, secretaries of state, defense, etc. I want those choices in the hands of Obama & Biden who have a better record of supporting the issues that effect each one of us on a daily basis. They do not support BIG OIL.

Are you willing to have faith in McCain's judgment? Background research on McCain shows personality flaws & activities I don't want to have in a person making decisions on my behalf. Before he became a Vietnam war hero, while at the the Naval Academy (graduating 5th from the bottom), he broke the rules regularly & was called McTemper. Before he was shot down, he crashed 5 planes was called McCrash & was implicated in the Forrestal carrier disaster. He returns a hero, cheats on his wife, who is disabled & marries an heiress whose father pays for his congressional campaigns. He was implicated in the Keating 5 savings & loan scandal. He has voted more than 90% of the time for Bush policies. He does not know geography; that our economy is spiraling down; the price of a gallon of gas; how many houses he owns & now he appoints Gov. Sarah Palin as "soulmate" whose experience & knowledge is far less than his. We don't need McSame making ignorant & bad decisions

[radical1]

Do the Conservative Right Wingers still believe Palin is so holy and righteous after the baby news? Just wondering.

A lot of us have come out against Alaska's Senator Stevens, and a lot of us women have more experience when it comes to pregnacy, so that makes lots of us underlings ready to be VP. Right?
This makes as much sense as the Republican's talking head excuse leaders.

[AlanBJ]

Anyone who wants to question Obama's Executive experience:

Obama has spent the past year and a half running a large organization -- as of last December, it had "about 500 employees and a budget of $100 million" -- and running it very well. It's not just that he and his team beat the Clinton campaign, which started out with enormous advantages. It's not even that he often did so by building effective political machines from scratch in states in which Clinton had locked down the political establishment. It's that every account of the Obama campaign that I've read makes it clear that he has done an outstanding job of constructing and running a political organization. For instance, this account of Obama's campaign is very much worth reading, if you want to get a sense of how he runs things:

"The story of how Obama assembled his top advisers and how he got them to work together as a team offers a glimpse into his approach as a chief executive who manages an organization of nearly 1,000 employees. Obama has built "an amazingly strong machine and it. It has been more of a well-orchestrated symphony than the jazz combo we expected."

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_08/014482.php

[RonNYC]

Do you really think it's true that her 4 month old baby with down syndrome is really her other daughter's? That probably why she doesn't mind being on the campaign trail.

[GinnyMayer]

One thing missing from all of these discussions of Ms. Palin's alleged qualifications (or glaring lack thereof) is that the criteria analysts are using really make no difference to the audience for whom she was chosen -- namely, conservative Christians. There is really no need to debate "minor details" such as whether or not proximity to Alaska gives Ms. Palin foreign policy experience. McCain's move was very shrewd in bringing in Evangelicals who were lukewarm at best about his candidacy. Now that Kevin Dobson will "pull that lever" for McCain-Palin, this strategy may well be successful. What other qualifications are needed if you have God on your side?

[Havi]

Who will she be serving the US or Alaska? She is a member of the Alaska Indepedence Party whose mission is to be an independant nation. Using the profits from the oil and gas resources of that state. Their motto is Alaska First. Why else would she ask what a VP does. Because she is use to being busy and she wants to know how this will benefit Alaska. The Alaska Independence Party wants to infiltrate our two party system to gain power for themselves. I say send her back on a dog pulling sled.
And I say to you to check out this website
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/1/4231/18477/878/581881/

[mcfried]

wow!

[fishsandwichesr2good]

And Barack's executive experience is.....

[Birdman]

Gee I can think of a few things but you would not care anyway, so just go away. I want you to remember one thing when we are all in bread lines and half the planet is contaminated with radioactive fallout I told ya so. Because that is all McCain will bring us bread lines a nuclear war. Besides what is McCain's EXECUTIVE experience, and being married to his beer baron wife does not count.

[bamabelle]

Ted Anthony the author of the article writes, "Obama, 47, has spent almost 12 years in office, all of it as a lawmaker _ eight years as an Illinois state senator and nearly four as a U.S. senator."
What a joke. Obama has spent his entire life doing nothing but promoting himself. This self-absorbed man has written two books about HIMSELF! HIMSELF! What kind of exprience is that? It's the best indicator that the man is a shallow, self-promoting narcissist. His accomplishments are all about preening. It's frightening to think he could be president. Palin isn't running for president. And at least she has been successfully dismantling a crooked, entrenched political establishment in Alaska. Obama is fluff.