Where Should the Bar Be Set for Sarah Palin?

Recently, I wrote tongue-in-cheek that because Republican leadership has been exalting the Greatness of Sarah Palin, they'd set the bar incredibly high for her upcoming debate.

Joking aside, after her scary-ghastly interview with Katie Couric last week, even Republicans understand the scope of that failure, witness their refusing to make her available to simply praise John McCain's debate performance. Amid the frightened reaction and volatile fallout, it's become necessary to take a more realistic view of her debate with Joe Biden. It is important to see the actual threshold she must reach.

And so -- where is the bar for Sarah Palin on Thursday?

Democratic leadership is trying to place it high, contending that she's an excellent debater, a "leviathan of forensics," in their words, as shown by her 2006 gubernatorial debate.

Let's be honest -- this isn't true. This is gamesmanship. I've watched the Alaska debate.

And let's be clear the other way: the challenge isn't whether Sarah Palin can debate -- she can, sort of, in a way. Her challenge is whether she can debate topics she's never had to deal with before. And then explain why Joe Biden is wrong, about everything

So, then, where is the bar for Sarah Palin?

Common wisdom would be that she only has to beat expectations. The problem is, that's no longer true. The reason isn't because Republicans raised the bar so high for her (though they did) -- it's that she lowered it so far for herself. Consider: three days after her awkward interview with Charles Gibson, her approval dropped 12 points. Her scary-ghastly interview with Katie Couric then opened the nation's eyes to the threat she poses to America if elected. A Research 2000 poll taken after that interview not only showed her favorable-to-unfavorable rating the lowest of all candidates, but she dropped to minus 10 points! Even in Alaska, her popularity plummeted a stunning 14 points. John McCain may still like to say how popular she is, but his words only keep serving to show how out-of-touch John McCain is.

As a result of her alarming interviews, doing better than expectations is no longer the bar for Sarah Palin. That ship has long passed. If she uses English in her sentences, she has a good chance of exceeding expectations.

At this point, the bar is that Sarah Palin must prove to a concerned American public that she is qualified to be a heartbeat from the presidency. Most especially under a 72-year old candidate with serious health issues.

Sarah Palin must convince the American public that she can actually lead the nation. Not simply do better than expectations. At this point, there are primitive life forms that could do better than her expectations. She must convince Americans that she won't destroy America.

This is no simple task beyond even the obvious barriers. The first hurdle is that America is in the midst of its biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression, and people are especially desperate for serious leadership. The greater difficulty, however, is that after eight years of George Bush, Americans now understand what happens when you give the presidency to someone just because you'd like to have a beer with them, and are demanding substance, unwilling to risk the nation again.

That's where the bar is.

Sarah Palin has to convince Americans that she can handle Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, North Korea, a crushing economic crisis, the $482 billion national debt, health care, education, the environment, nuclear proliferation, the housing crisis, global warming, immigration, abortion, the FBI, Armed Forces, CIA, and every single aspect of national security.

That's where the bar is.

Forget even her childish insistence that she is experienced because she can see Russia. Giving her the benefit of the doubt for her deeper explanation that she really knows all about foreign affairs by reading books -- she has to tell us what books those are. Americans will want to hear what books she has actually read about Pakistan, Iraq, China, Russia, Iran, Latin America, and Venezuela that have made her an accomplished expert. As she claims.

That's where the bar is.

After fearfully avoiding the danger of all major press interviewers, merely wanting to ask her opinion...she has to convince Americans that she can face down the leaders of Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran.

That's where the bar is.

And she set is herself.

It is a bar that focuses on John McCain. Because he chose her. He put America at risk. It was his craven act that put America Last.

The bar isn't to beat low expectations. The bar isn't to show that Sarah Palin can stand for 90 minutes while continuing to breathe. The bar is for Sarah Palin to convince Americans, who have seen her flounder and are at this point terrified of the consequences, that she can actually be President of the United States.

That's where the bar is.

Beating expectations? This isn't about beating expectations. You might not expect a mynah bird to be able to sing "Yankee Doodle," but if it exceeded your expectations, you still wouldn't bankroll it with your life savings star in "Das Rheingold" at the Metropolitan Opera.

This isn't a game show. If you beat expectations, you're safe and invited back next week. You have to prove to Americans, who are now wary, that you can be the Leader of the Free World.

That's where the bar is.

Only weeks before becoming the Republican nominee for vice president, Sarah Palin said she didn't even know what the vice president did every day. What she has to do is convince Americans that she not only knows what the vice president does, but that she understands what the President of the United States does.

And that she can do it.

That's where the bar is.

Comments

[paulita]

And what were those Trade Missions she went on with Russia exactly?

Do you think people voting for her have really thought about this fact:

If they win she will be PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE.

That means she will be in charge of, be responsible for the smooth operation of the United States Senate.... that is even if McCain were to survive the four years..

That is PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE Americans.­. it is the job of the Vice President of the United States

[batguano]

Add to her utter political and social inexperience, the extremist "religious" dogma of her belief system that sees the earth as only 6000 years old where dinosaurs walked with modern mankind and the outcome of an Armageddon is a positive thing, when the faithful will ascend to Heaven and all will be made well.....w­hile the rest of us burn in Hell. The belief in this fantasy dogma should in itself disqualify anyone from higher office (and qualify them for a rubber room), as the Founders in their wisdom and experience, tried to impress on us. The unyielding seperation between church dogma and social leadership for all the people should be sacrosanct. That line has been crossed by the nomination of this person.

[thenextquagmire]

The bar started high for Palin on Sep 3, after her convention speech. For a MONTH, a whole month, Palin has tried to show that she is competent, in charge of the facts and worthy of running for the Nations second highest office. She's only nose-dived, bombed, missed the mark, gone belly up, flopped, fell flat, over the last 4 weeks. Not to mention having to deal with the McCain campaign and the inherent sexism within the Republican Party. Remember, this is the first time they have ever had a women on the ticket.

However, no matter how the outcome of this ONE Debate turns out, Palin will still have to prove her competence, be accountable to the facts she's already laid out - intentionally or not, and show that she is worthy of running for the Nations second highest office, up till Nov. 4. Ironically, its the Republicans and the McCain campaign that have already doomed her. It could be argued that , the sexist Republican party are not even worthy of having a women on their ticket, but in a sense, they do deserve someone like Sarah Palin at this very moment. How ironic.

[SatanicPanic]

Great post!

[AuntSally]

The Obama campaign -- all of us -- need to be asking the public:

"Can you imagine if Sarah Palin were President.­.. TODAY??"

With the financial meltdown
With the wars
With the energy situation
With North Korea
With Iran

Can you imagine if Sarah Palin were President TODAY??

[whitegoldwielder]

I have a suggestion.

Why not do the same thing for Obama? After all, he has less governmental executive experience than Palin.

Palin has the same credentials Bill Clinton had when he took office. He also was questioned as a governor.

[mrtomm]

Bill Clinton was a Rhodes scholar..I would hardly categorize his credentials as anywhere near similar to Ms. Palin

[Glenn1441]

Obama is a Harvard Law graduate, with honors. No one gets out of Harvard, with honors, with a narrow world view, without discipline and experience, and without leadership abilities. Period. No exceptions. That's Harvard Law. WITH HONORS.

[conjure]

This is a silly argument and I'm tired of seeing it. Candidates for president are vetted by the primary process. VP selections are based on the discretion of the Presidential candidate. Obama and McCain represent their parties only because the "People" have endorsed their respective candidacies. Knowing what we now know, there is NO WAY Palin could ever avoid the scrutiny inherent in the primaries. She is only viable because a single voice selected her.

[Scottap]

She's been governor for a year and a half of a state that gets 85% percent of it's revenue from taxes on oil production. That's great experience if you're going to be President of Saudi Arabia.

[kconwaycole]

less governmental "executive" experience ...hmmmm..­. I guess it's the "executive" that is distinguishing Palin. As for general experience, wasn't Obama in the Illinois Senate for 8 years? A U.S. Senator for 4 years? Didn't he teach Congressional Law at an institute of higher learning? Isn't he an extremely intelligent man who thinks before he responds, who has degrees from Columbia and Harvard? There is no comparison between the teo, and I agree that it is a silly atgument. Then there's the "well, she isn't running for President" argument..­. The saying "a heartbeat away" takes on frightening meaning when the man who is running for President is 72 years old and not in the best of health (medical records anyone?). The far Right must be salivating over the prospect of controlling this women, because she obviouslt cannot run this country -- except into the ground.

[evekendall]

I am really tired of hearing that Sarah Palin has more experience than Barack Obama. And now you're throwing Bill Clinton into your specious argument, too?

Obama and Clinton have experience that Palin does not have now and never will have: the experience of thriving and succeeding, with honors, in a world-class university studying political science, government, foreign service, and international relations. She is also missing a very important prerequisite for serving as a world leader: intellect. You might want to do some research:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intellect

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellect

[evekendall]

Postscript to my comment above: I should add that Obama and Clinton also studied the U. S. legal system and Constitution for several years at Harvard Law School and Yale Law School, respectively, where they obtained Juris Doctor degrees.

Sarah Palin, a month ago, did not even know the role of the Vice President of the United States in our government.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9pnzQ96kWA

[sectpt]

This entire discussion is moot. It may be entertaining to have. But as usual it is not about the performance it's the questions they ask and how they ask them. the media want a horse race to the bitter finish

[WhiteHat]

Well gee wiz, if you put it like that who could ever really say they're ready?

She'll do her darndest, and her quality and qualities will shine through every crisis, just like when she almost tripped in the swimsuit competition but managed not to.

[StellaRay]

Yes! Thank you Robert. These are the best words on this subject in a sea of blah, blah, blah---endless hand wringing from democrats about how all Sara has to do it exceed expectations to win. Abso-freek­in'-lutely­, the only bar is, could she serve as the president of this country? Period. Everything else is just noise.

[cgr]

I'd like to see this spattered across the Internet, in every newspaper, talked about on MSM. This is states precisely and exactly what this election and its candidates are about. To choose the President of the free world and his Vice-President isn't a trivial game or a media event. It's serious. We have a right to know exactly who each candidates is, character, beliefs, philosophy of governance, temperament, beliefs, abilities, honesty and decency. .We need to know their character is. They have to earn our vote.

We have a right...an­d the obligation­...to choose wisely, seriously, judiciously. The bar for leader of the free world has to be the very highest. Only the best ought be even considered.

[davidpeace]

The bar's around the corner, middle of the block.

As for the debate, there hasn't been a REAL political debate here between candidates for high office in many years. REAL debate consists of dialog between speakers, not preaching sound-bites to audiences. REAL debaters respond to each other. Give and take. Back and forth. Outside of college and high school, at least those high schools that do more than teach how to take a test, debate is a lost art. And if they wanted to really make it interesting, they might consider adding the rest of the candidates from other political parties, and independents. REAL debates require critical thinking skills that most Americans seem to have had dogmatized out of them with perpetual info-news about Brittany, Survivor..­. The corporations that really own this country, and the media, don't want people having critical thinking skills. If a much larger swath of Americans had such skills we wouldn't be having to tell Congress not to spend $700B "bailing" out the financials. If more of us had such skills, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place and someone like Palin wouldn't be given even a first thought by anyone able to make a serious run for the presidency, because she wouldn't be known to them. It would've been unlikely she would have gotten elected to any office in the first place. If most Americans had critical thinking skills and actually knew what a REAL debate was and expected one.

[paulita]

I agree, I think it is very un Democratic. All of the parties qualified to run should be allowed in the debate.

Restricting it to the two parties deprives America of many ideas and thoughts that could be incorporated by an eventual winner of the election. It also deprives us of a true choice.

The next election all parties should be permitted to participate in the debate.

[gadfly55]

Ah yes, how true, and how few have the ability, and then the learning, and then the life, and then the interest in engaging with other people, and then the pain of being called elitist because they have a different interpretation or insight from the mass conformity, and then the withdrawal to a simpler life, and then cultivation of their own garden, for this is the best of all possible worlds, and the center cannot hold and mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, and the petal slips from the flower in the dewy evening air.

[montemalone]

Don't worry. She'll pull a Karen Hughes.
Remember her? Bush's goodwill ambassador? She had to delay going to work unitl after her teenage son went back to school.
Sarah will have to stay home to tend to her baby. Of course, Mareka will understand.

[BabsfromKansas]

Why even talk of a "bar"? She is either qualified or not. In my opinion she is not and should have left the ticket by now.

[hopewhit]

typo: "And she set is herself."

[vgirl1]

Commander-in-chief is the only bar against which America can afford Palin to be measured.

I don't know how Palin will do. I guess she will not measure up. The real issues involve what takes place if she doesn't. In particular:

1) We will see shortly how much the media really is concerned about the future of this country vs just having 24 hours of spin news to broadcast.

2) We will also see whether the Republicans and McCain really do stand for Country First or if the hoax is up, they know it and they move to correct their dangerous insult to America's future.