A Note of Caution

Others tonight will write eloquently about the historic nature of Barack Obama's incredible victory. As many others do, I feel as if our country has been reclaimed after suffering eight years of despair. We have vanquished an occupying force of oppression and retaken possession of our rightful territory. The country and the world will rejoice, for we have embarked on a new path of transparency, honesty and integrity.

But in the midst of this celebration, I still fear for our republic. While Obama's election demonstrates the absolute best of our democracy, we should not ignore a more ominous truth. Nearly half of the American electorate believed that Sarah Palin was qualified to lead our nation as president. That is a sign of a nation at risk.

My opposition to John McCain was based on a philosophical difference about governance, and based on specific disagreements with his policies on war, energy, environment and economics. But Senator McCain was a legitimate candidate for the office of the president. He is a war hero and a long-standing member of the United States Senate. He clearly has the qualities one looks for in a president, even if I believed he would take us dangerously in the wrong direction. That is the purpose of elections, to allow voters to choose between different visions for the future.

Governor Palin is an entirely different matter. We have to question the judgment of anyone who could conclude that Palin is qualified to president. She is no more qualified to be leader of the free world than is the mayor of Austin, Texas, which has a population as big as her state. Imagine the mayor of Austin as president, fighting the war on terror, righting our listing economy. Palin has no more claim to legitimacy. Let us be honest: Palin's candidacy was a sick joke. McCain chose her to win an election by exciting the right-wing base but in doing so put our country in peril. The greatest danger, though, is the inability of half of our voters to make reasoned decisions about our leaders. A democracy can only survive with an educated electorate, and we now have to wonder if 50% are no longer qualified.

History will show that Palin's nomination was an abomination, an affront to reason, and an insult to the American people. Once the adrenalin of the campaign had dissipated from the American bloodstream, once we have transitioned to the calm reason of an Obama presidency, we will be embarrassed by her candidacy. I can only hope that those who voted for Palin will recognize the error of that support, so that such a dangerous mistake is not made again. If not, if fully half of the American people persist in the belief that Palin was a legitimate choice, then this country is in trouble, even considering the historic victory we celebrate tonight.

Read more reaction from HuffPost bloggers to Barack Obama's victory in the 2008 presidential election

Comments

[XME]

I don't believe that most of those people who said she was qualified really believe that. I think that most simply didn't care, whether it was due to racial reasons, or reason of severe Republican/Conservative partisanship.

Of course, that they don't care that she wasn't qualified is no less concerning than thinking she is qualified!

[Jeff Schweitzer - Huffpost Blogger]

Exactly; with either logic the conclusion is scary.

[BluesDogLefty]

I understand you point----and concede to your caution.

But the civil war in the republican party has already started.

The role Palin will play will be to prevent the Rep from moving to the canter as they no doubt would love to do now.

[Jeff Schweitzer - Huffpost Blogger]

Maybe she willl prevent a move to the center, dooming the Republicans to the fringes. We'll see. But the sad fact is that 49 million people voted for her. That is the most frightening statistic from this election. Something is wrong with a country that can take her seriously for national office. And this is the populace that Obama must govern, one in which half the population could not make an adult decision about our leaders. Scary.