Senator McCain and Sarah Palin are qualified to run for the offices they seek. I know this because Senator Barack Obama said it. And I'm not going to argue with him because he's right an awful lot of the time.
Here's the real issue: they both have been in positions where they could have made a difference. Yet, time after time, they haven't seen the problems (or been willing to say anything) nor have they developed solutions. When others see problems, they both have fought the solution through vetos or budget cuts or both.
Follow me down this path.
With McCain, I completely disagree with what he sees a problem AND what he views as a solution. In his speech, he referred to a couple who had lost their "real estate investments." You know what I call a real estate investment? My home. It's where I live and there's just one of them. This isn't about qualifications. He's perfectly qualified. As Obama says, "he just doesn't get it."
So now McCain has chosen a running mate who adds a new dimension -- not because it changes anything, it just multiplies the wrongness.
There are problems that are common to St. Cloud, Minnesota and Wasilla, Alaska and Sacramento, California. I have yet to see an example where Palin as governor or mayor saw a particular problem and brought people together to find a solution. So, that's one thing. Now, she's in a position where she'll need to find solutions for problems she has never seen -- the ones that don't include Alaska -- and there are some doosies. Inner cities, anyone? How about Iran? How about energy when the answer isn't drilling? How about when the investment needs to be made to explore new technologies? The answer is nope.
Here's the news out of Fairbanks from May of this year.
Palin cuts money for energy research
JUNEAU — A new energy research center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks is looking for alternative funding after Gov. Sarah Palin last week vetoed a $1.5 million state and federal appropriation for the center.
The Alaska Center for Energy and Power formed in January and is focused on developing new technologies to lower the cost of energy in rural Alaska and attract energy-intensive industry with cheap renewable resources.
Holdmann said she was hoping to use some of the funding to bring a top expert in geothermal energy to Alaska to help develop a research program in the field. She said she also applied for federal grants to study new technologies involving river current, tidal energy, and combined wind and diesel power systems.
According to Holdmann, Palin’s veto leaves a critical gap in the state’s approach to addressing energy issues.
Palin recently signed into law HB 152, a bill setting up a fund for renewable energy projects, and she agreed to distribute $50 million in state funds for renewable energy projects this year.
But that money can only go toward projects using proven technologies.
So, if it's not about new sources of energy, then what? Sarah Palin's energy plan was described this way by the Anchorage Daily News:
May 15, 2008, Anchorage, Alaska – Governor Sarah Palin today unveiled a short-term energy plan to address the skyrocketing costs of energy in Alaska. The package includes two parts – returning surplus funds through a grant to all electric utilities to reduce ratepayer bills and an Energy Debit Card for the next 12 months.
“Alaskans are feeling the pinch of high energy costs,” Governor Palin said. “The state treasury is swelling, while family checkbooks are evaporating. The right thing to do is to return surplus monies to the resource owners through energy relief. Instead of going to Washington, D.C. for relief, Alaskans should be independent enough to take care of this energy problem ourselves.”
Wow. That's clever. Give money back to the utility companies from a bursting coffer and throw $1,200 at every citizen. Buffy, I've solved the problem. Still have time for a movie?
McCain isn't any better. He loves to talk about energy and solutions. He's got that drill, baby, drill thing going -- but that's about it. When he's had the chance to vote on energy, where his vote has really mattered, he hasn't shown up. Like this one or this one. When he needs to either face the right wing down with a mavericky vote or face real people with a vote that matters to them, he just doesn't show.
So now we're getting into this national crisis with energy. It can't be solved with Sarah's natural gas pipeline that's 10 years away (at least) and in dispute and would provide less than 10% of our needs. It certainly isn't going to be solved with drill, baby, drill. If there's proof that either McCain or Palin have thought this through and have concrete plans, please show me where it is. If they've shown any creative thinking, let me know.
Not just nope
Somewhere along the line, McCain got the idea that maverick™ means binary rebellion. His running mate, with her "I told them no thanks!" is of the same mold. There isn't room for that with true leadership. Progress comes when people with vision start imagining possibilities and then find the way to get there. It's action, not reaction. It's Thomas Edison and FDR and Larry Page and Sergey Brin all rolled together into one. Any wonder why the Obama campaign hired Chris Hughes when they needed to develop social networking? They understand inventive thinking. They understand vision. And they know when someone has it. And you don't get there with nope.
The energy issue is obvious. Both of them have been briefed to death -- though likely by more lobbyists than good creative thinkers. They know the facts. And yet they still do the wrong thing. What do you suppose they'll do with health care? Find some magic lantern and rub it 'til a solution appears? I don't think so. If they have failed this miserably on energy, I don't think we can expect some big "Aha!" moment with anything else. It's not how they think. It's not who they are.
Not just wrong, wrong x2
It all comes down to this. I'm not going to argue with anyone about Sarah Palin's qualifications for the job. Because by agreeing to the fact that she is qualified, I get the right to prove that McCain is no longer wrong about everything, he's wrong x 2. I can argue about what matters most to me. Whether it's 26 years in Washington, like McCain, or 20 months in Juneau, these two people don't see the real problems we face. Their solutions aren't based on the needs of the country and the things that really need to change will remain the same.
I had my week of being pissed. That's in the past. Now I'm going to dig in and make sure I see a better future.