The Vice Presidency Matters Now

Would you trust Sarah Palin enough to send her to Moscow and Beijing to represent the US? Gaining that trust, is Palin's test tonight. 

It should go without saying that a VP should be qualified to be President, since 20 percent of vice presidents have been forced to suddenly take office in the midst of a presidential term. But it is not just that the VP will be a heartbeat away. They have a job to do now.

The notion, as Senator McCain has said, that the job of the vice president was merely to check on the health of the president is severely outdated. While the selection of vice-presidential candidates may not have much impact on the electorate, the fact is that since the end of the Cold War the Vice President has had a substantial impact on governing, especially in foreign policy. It is no longer just a ceremonial office. This is not merely due to the vice presidents' that held office, but to a greater demand on U.S. foreign policy.

With the end of the Cold War and America's rise as the sole superpower, the foreign policy challenges confronting the United States have grown and become more varied. Given the lack of direct authority in crafting domestic policy, it was natural that the Vice President's office adopt a growing role in foreign policy, since the office can speak authoritatively not just on behalf of the entire administration, but on behalf of the entire country. During the Clinton administration, Al Gore chaired a U.S.-Russia commission and was the first American leader to visit China following the Tienanmen Square massacre. Dick Cheney has been dispatched to Pakistan and the Middle East and played a highly influential and independent role in crafting Bush administration foreign policy and in the end created a very powerful and highly unaccountable office. It is very important therefore that these candidates be properly vetted and asked tough questions.

We face so many challenges, from two wars, to a global financial crisis, to bolstering withering alliances, to managing great power relationships with Russia and China, that it is extremely important to have a VP that is empowered to take responsibility over some of these issues. For instance, it is imperative that a new administration throw itself into the Middle East peace process. But this single issue could dominate an entire year of a Presidency. Obama can charge Biden to take a lead role. But McCain will not be able to do that with Palin. At the very least we need a VP that we can trust to represent the views of the United States to foreign leaders. So again would you trust Palin enough to send her to Beijing or Moscow, or even Brussels? Convincing us that she can do that is Palin's test tonight.

Comments

[CarlyCorday]

Of course we wouldn't trust her, but the evangelicals would, and all the ultra-virulent "lib" haters would, they don't care, the point is just to win what is for them a kind of Superbowl against a hated rival team, not to make good sense, not to concern themselves with the world or what is best for anyone, even their own families. Palin stepped over that low, low, low bar tonight. She didn't "run sobbing off the stage" as predicted, and she didn't get McCain any more votes. She didn't lose him any, either. She was nasty, snotty, smirky, bratty, ill-mannered, below the belt and out of line (as was McCain in the other debate), fully aware that Biden could not, no matter what, respond in kind, or even dare come CLOSE. Think she could work that act on Putin? Hmmm...maybe she could.

(And maybe she WILL. If they win, the vice-presidency is going to become a very VERY big deal, Sarah says. Thought Cheney was crazy with power? Palin has plans that Cheney only BEGAN to put in play. He got away with everything he did. Sarah will get away with far FAR worse. That's how history rolls. Past IS prologue, ain't it!)

[adgilbert81]

No. No. Hell no.

[Teeninchee]

You betcha! She can go right over there and tell them she's not going to answer their questions, give them answers to questions they haven't asked and give them a big wink. Boy howdy! Rootin' tootin' FLUNKED THE TEST.

[Shellixoxo]

Does Palin know what a VP does now at this point in the game?

Judging from her skirting around answers during tonight's debate, I think not.

Her ideas, outlooks, etc make ME know that I do not want her one heartbeat (maybe even 1/2 of a heartbeat given McCain's age) away from the Presidency.

No Palin.. No McCain... no way. The American people deserve so much better and we can achieve that-- OBAMA/BIDEN -08!

[Mary1943]

Gosh darn, heck, yea.

from Joe "six-pack".

[Photofarm]

I'd trust Palin more than foot in the mouth Biden.

[ICUP]

As repugnant as Palin is, let's all slow down a second. She might become VP. It's not that important of a job. Look at the absolute zeroes who've held and yet the Republic survived. If McCain takes the dirt nap, I think we can safely assume that lil Sarah would suffer an untimely accident and thus keep her out of the Oval Office. It's not like either party is above that sort of thing.

[CarlyCorday]

"let's all slow down a second. She might become VP. It's not that important of a job."

Looks like somebody slept through the Cheney administration...

Now I'm just being mean. GOODNIGHT, all.

[ICUP]

You should actually blame Bubba for the increased prominence of the Veep. Gore was to be one of his legion of co-Presidents. Prior to that, the Veep was like tits on a bull.

[CharlesJ]

I would not trust Palin to go to Canada and negociate on behalf of America.
I have a lot of respect for Canadians, as my family came from Quebec way back when.
The point is I do not believe she has the knowledge, let alone the experience to represent
the American People. There are other women out there that have a great deal of more experience,
knowledge and wherefor to represent this country, Palin is just not one of them.

[KillTheMessenger]

I wouldn't trust her enough to send her to the cleaners with my dirty clothes.

:-)

[Speakupper]

If John Mc Cain considers a pizza parlor dangerous territory for Palin, how could he ever send her abroad to represent us? I keep seeing John Mc Cain showing up at the joint interview with Katie Couric attempting to clean up the mess she'd made. All he did was make them both look even worse. Imagine this fiasco if instead of Katie, Palin had been interacting with other world leaders. Yikes!

[Rumba]

I wouldn't trust her to pick up a bottle of milk.

[peacegurl48]

Katie Couric, CBS News: "If a 15-year-old is raped by her father, you believe it should be illegal for her to get an abortion. Why?"

Governor Sarah Palin: "I am pro-life. And I'm unapologetic about my position..."

[PioneerKing]

MR. BERGMAN:


ouch!

you've cut to the core of the matter

chilling

[peacegurl48]

From Taibbi, of Rolling Stone:
"Sarah Palin is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the modern United States. As a representative of our political system, she's a new low in reptilian villainy, the ultimate cynical masterwork of puppeteers like Karl Rove. But more than that, she is a horrifying symbol of how little we ask for in return for the total surrender of our political power. Not only is Sarah Palin a fraud, she's the tawdriest, most half-assed fraud imaginable, 20 floors below the lowest common denominator, a character too dumb even for daytime TV " and this country is going to eat her up, cheering her every step of the way. All because most Americans no longer have the energy to do anything but lie back and allow ourselves to be jacked off by the calculating thieves who run this grasping consumer paradise we call a nation."

She is so unaware of the world and doesn't seem to have an original thought. America might never regain her repututaion. Her world views are beyond simplisitic and that is very dangerous.

[CarlyCorday]

"As a representative of our political system, she's a new low in reptilian villainy, "

There it is! The exact phraseology I've been seeking in my worried head.

Thank you Rolling Stone, Taibbi, and Peacegurl38. I'ma look up this article to keep.

[ajax2]

"Would you trust Sarah Palin enough to send her to Moscow and Beijing to represent the US?"
Not to the grocery store, and what she does tonight doesn't mean diddly squat.

[ssb752]

Has everyone forgotten that the Vice President is the President of the Senate?? Article I, Section 3 of that pesky US Constitution. Just because Cheney has showed up once to break a tie, doesn't mean that he can't show up and lead. (also this is his justification for behaving like he belongs to no branches of government) It is still the prerogative of the VP to function in that capacity. Up there with the gavel, leading the discussion, recognizing members. Now try to imagine Sarah Palin up there at the podium doing that! And a child shall lead them. Amen.