60 Days To Judge a Commander in Chief?

I'm going to be very blunt, here. I wish Senator McCain a very long and happy life. But, at age 72 with a history of cancer, John McCain may not live through his first term, if elected. That would make Sarah Palin our Commander in Chief. I, and other vets and troops, have about 60 days to determine if she'll grow to be ready.

She's not ready now -- not based on the complete blank resume on global strategic issues and veterans issues. To be fair, Barack Obama wasn't ready to be Commander in Chief when he became Senator in 2005.

But, over the course of the last few years, and the last year-and-a-half in particular, I've been able to soundly judge Senator Obama, and watch him grow into a readied potential Commander in Chief. In the Senate, serving on the Foreign Affairs committee, he's tackled some of the major issues of our time, asking probing and highly informed questions of military leaders and diplomatic leaders.

I've been able to watch his thought process in action, and have seen him been proven right on Iraq, right on Afghanistan, right on talking to Iran, and right on the war on terror. He's shown an incredible ability to think in much larger strategic terms than this president, to the point that I'm supremely confident he is ready to lead our Armed Forces.

Sarah Palin? God only knows.

I've never heard her even address any of those issues, or the veterans issues like the GI Bill, VA Funding, and care for those vets with PTSD, or those who are homeless. Senator Obama has shown an acute understanding of and deep record on each of those issues - cosponsoring the GI Bill, always supporting greater VA funding, backing the Webb-Hagel Dwell Time Amendment (unlike McCain) and writing the Homes for Our Heroes Act, which would take on veterans homelessness.

I have to assume with no real history of judgment of her own on war, Palin will back John McCain's dismal judgment on military and veterans matters - endless war in Iraq, inability or unwillingness to get Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, opposing education benefits and greater VA funding, continued overextension of our military, and a shoot-first/think-later mentality.

Maybe Palin could one day be someone who has the judgment and experience that would make me feel comfortable with her leading our Armed Forces. But not now. Not after just 60 days thinking about those issues, and even then, just toting the party line. What's this say about McCain's judgment - to put political PR above sound judgment when it comes to naming a potential, if not very possible, Commander in Chief? What's it say about his judgment vs. Barack Obama, who faced with the same question, answered, "Joe Biden."

In times like these, with the stakes so high, and the decent chance that McCain might not live long into his first term, I can think of no scarier thought as a proud war veteran than someone with such an empty resume holding in her hands the lives of my buddies still in the service.

Read more reaction from HuffPost bloggers to John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate

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Comments

[XME]

03:39 AM on 08/31/2008

Very well stated. This is THE important issue when it comes to his selection: his judgement, and her potentially having to take on all of the responsibilities of the presidency. It scares me too. Thank you!

[jeanrenoir]

12:46 PM on 08/30/2008

Needless to say, as with Reagan and Bush, it will be Palin's neocon handlers, not Palin herself, who will be "leading" young American men and women to death and maiming in the sands of the Middle East. Palin's inexperience is an irrelevant issue. Like Reagan and Bush, she will simply be a perfect ventriloquist's dummy to read the gospel according to the neocons and Big Oil (all the better since she's a "fighter AGAINST Big Oil"--what credibility!) as our Christian soldiers march onward into war for Likud. America will be in no more "danger" under Palin than under Reagan, Bush, or McCain, for that matter, because all have been and will be simply stooges and front persons for those who really run the American economy at home and the endless American imperial wars to come abroad for Israel.

[FullChat]

11:58 AM on 08/30/2008

I feel that the VP choice is the first Commander In Chief decision made by a President. My score:
Obama: 1
McCain: 0

[Berettasskeeter]

04:01 AM on 08/30/2008

You folks are so funny! Sarah Palin has more executive experience, by far, than Obama, who has none that I know of. She has run a state government for almost 2 years. What governments did Obama run? None. She was the mayor of a small town. Of what town was Obama the mayor? Oh yeah, NONE. She is far more ready than Obama to be President, which makes her a pretty good choice for VP, in my book.
Semper fi

[mosh]

09:52 AM on 08/30/2008

You should reread Jon's blog - or perhaps you didn't read it at all? Your canned comments certainly don't address or put to rest any of the issues he raises in his post. But perhaps this is your kknee jerk response to anything vaguely touching electoral politics? if so, it is totally unimpressive and certainly unpersuasive.

[deminmo]

10:15 AM on 08/30/2008

So, Sarah is an executive and can run a company or Alaska
a sparsly populated state. She also supported the "bridge to
nowhere" until 2006, when suddenly she changed her mind
after the criticism about the bridge. She fired someone because
of a personal family issue, and now is under investigation by
state legislators.
Please, where is her past experience in defense issues?

[QuicksilverKW]

09:40 PM on 08/29/2008

Very valid point. If something did happen to McCain - that is assuming he did win - how on earth could she command the the armed service. How would she garner the respect of the men ( and women). What does she know about anything to do with the armed forces? Does she learn while she plays? These are very honest questions. No one can pretend the possibility couldn't exist. Has she even thought about what she would do? What if after thinking about it she decided that maybe she wasn't the best person and bows out? That would be respectworthy. She had no plans for this type of politics. She even said in an earlier interview that she would only consider it depending on how much was in it for Alaskans - because she couldn't think outside of state affairs.

[booksnmore4you]

08:42 PM on 08/29/2008

The point is to convince the low information voters in, for example, rural Ohio and Pennsylvania. McCain is counting on their votes now based on mere biology, i.e., gender. I suspect we are going to need Hilllary campaigning more than ever.

[MegWe]

12:21 PM on 08/30/2008

Hello...rural female PA voter here. We are not fooled by this silliness.

[tel8034]

07:30 PM on 08/29/2008

Palin has said that she HASN'T EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT IRAQ........................ One of the top issues we face today.

McCain is well past his 3 score and 10 ....................... CAN PALIN STEP IN TO BE COMMANDER IN CHIEF IF SOMETHING HAPPENS?

And to think McCain and the Republicans actually say that they CARE about our national security.

WITH PALIN THEY SURE ARE SENDING THE WRONG MESSAGE ON THIS FRONT.

[Citizenofreality]

07:10 PM on 08/29/2008

Terrible choice, and the nonsense being spewed by the right that she has the chops on foreign policy because Alaska is so close to Russia is just ridiculous. This woman does NOT have the credentials and experience necessary to be one heartbeat away from the Presidency.

[Berettasskeeter]

01:04 AM on 08/30/2008

Please lay out for me the broad foreign policy experience that Obama has? And don't mention Biden, because, as you are speaking of an individual, so am I. Further, Obama's experiential requirement is far higher than Biden's, as McCain's is than Palin's.
Semper fi

[sleek]

06:37 PM on 08/29/2008

John McCain: When "Country First" is nothing more than a slogan.

[HadEnoughCrap]

06:27 PM on 08/29/2008

Frankly, I think has opened the door for Obama/Biden to discuss McCain's age. When his choice for Veep is clearly not intended to assume the office of POTUS then his health and age become an issue.

[slc20]

06:02 PM on 08/29/2008

McCain has shown you can be old and not wise.

The idea of having a person who has only been governor for 1 and 1/2 years and ZERO international experience- a 72 yr old's heartbeat from the presidency- is SCARY.

[Roses]

05:35 PM on 08/29/2008

Thank you. Very good post.

[deminmo]

05:13 PM on 08/29/2008

She does have being pro-life, conservative, and Republican
going for her. She has being a first in her state, a woman
governor going for her. And the fact she stands against abortion
for any reason, which is very much the direction Bush is taking
the country on that particular issue. That and contraception.
Sarah Palin also has a disabled child and a son due to go to
Iraq soon. Maybe the kicker is she is female. Guess we will
learn a lot more in the next 60 or so days.

[blog4um]

09:51 PM on 08/29/2008

She seems to be running on the "my son is in Iraq and I have a special needs child mother of 5" platform.
She joins McCain's I'm a POW" platform.
She preached that in her speech.
We all have our own issues, we need to know what are you going to do for the country.

[plooger]

04:17 PM on 08/29/2008

Thanks, Jon. That's been one of my biggest concerns regarding Palin. Biden and McCain have been on the public stages for decades and have each been through a couple Presidential campaigns, while Obama has been under public scrutiny for over 18 months.

2 months is too little time to vet and test the mettle of Palin, and a single VP debate will not provide much insight.

McCain rolls the dice...

[Deparis]

04:17 PM on 08/29/2008

Thank you for your service and your courageous article Jon.