Memo to Sarah Palin: Four Reasons Why You Will Never be in Teddy's League

While Senator Kennedy was a man who may have been less than perfect, he never blamed others for his flaws and errors in judgment.
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

Sarah - there is a lot you could learn from the life of Ted Kennedy - that is, if you were someone who saw value in learning new things (more on that later):

#1: While Senator Kennedy was a man who may have been less than perfect, he never blamed others for his flaws and errors in judgment. In contrast, you seem to blame the media for your every blunder, including your disastrous unscripted speeches and interviews, and even every scandal that has been your family's in the making. No one is buying it.

#2: Another important Ted Kennedy quality was his strong respect for his opponents. While he may have disagreed with certain of their ideas, he still stated, "Republicans love this country just as much as I do." It was one of the secrets of his success - the ability to reach across the aisle and acknowledge the patriotism of others instead of questioning their loyalty to America. Sarah, when you told a group of small town conservatives how nice it was to be among "good Americans like yourselves", the rest of us were left speculating as to just what kind of "bad Americans" you must think we are.

#3: Another key trait of Senator Kennedy's was the one we all heard about from his sons and his niece, Caroline, in their eulogies. While they all jokingly reminisced about how lengthy and arduous some of his "history tours" were for them as children, they learned from him the need for a serious understanding of history if one ever plans to make history oneself. You, however according to published accounts from insiders in the McCain campaign, couldn't be bothered putting in the time to learn about the complex chain of events that shaped many of the issues you would be handling as the second most powerful person in our government

#4: And finally, as was obvious from his longevity in office, from his tenacity on certain issues such as universal health care and from the way he taught his son to make it up the hill after his leg amputation, Teddy obviously knew that you don't throw in the towel. "My dad was never bowed, he never gave up, and there was never quit in dad," his son Patrick said. Sarah, when you were sworn in as Governor of Alaska, you accepted a full term of office. Did someone suddenly spring the concept of "lame duck" on you after a couple of years in office? Are you setting the new protocol for all politicians when their lame duck status looms on the horizon? We are still waiting to see your bigger, better impact on society you have told us you intend to make now that you are free of the barriers of being the highest elected official in your state. Something tells me that if Ted Kennedy had been in your shoes, he would have stayed in that office. But as we all too well aware, he wasn't and you were.... and sadly for us all, Sarah Palin, you're no Ted Kennedy.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot