A new WSJ/NBC poll finds only 40% of surveyed voters believe Sarah Palin is qualified to be President, compared with 64% who believe Joe Biden is qualified.
Questions about Palin's qualifications are no doubt being amplified by the fact that John McCain is 72 years old, and actuarial tables tell us a man of his age has a 1 in 7 chance of dying within the next 4 years.
Now Laura Bush has stated the obvious - Palin lacks foreign policy experience. Meanwhile, Palin's performance in her only 3 interviews has raised alarm bells, even the one with friendly Fox News.
Voters should also ask whether Palin is even qualified for Vice President. Remember, our current VP once made snap decisions to shoot down passenger airplanes.
The WSJ/NBC poll shows the public is concerned about Palin:
The latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows nearly half of voters harbor doubts that Republican vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin is qualified to be president.
Asked, “Do you feel that Sarah Palin is qualified to be president if the need arises, or is she not qualified to be president?” 49% of all respondents said the Alaska governor is not qualified while 40% said she is.
If elected, John McCain, at 72 years old, will be the oldest president ever sworn in to a first-term. Questions about McCain’s age have persisted in the campaign, and the Arizona senator himself has said that voters need to have confidence that his running mate will be ready for the Oval Office.
Voters have significantly more confidence in Democratic vice presidential hopeful Joe Biden’s ability to serve as commander-in-chief if need be. Almost two-thirds of respondents, 64%, said Biden, Barack Obama’s running mate, is qualified; just 21% said he is not.
And if we look back at the role the Vice President ended up playing less than 9 months after inauguration, it seems that Palin's qualifications are a serious matter indeed:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
At 10:39 on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Vice President Cheney, in a bunker beneath the White House, told Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in a videoconference that he had been informed earlier that morning that hijacked planes were approaching Washington.
"Pursuant to the president's instructions, I gave authorization for them to be taken out," Cheney told Rumsfeld, who was at the Pentagon. Informing Rumsfeld that the fighter pilots had received orders to fire, Cheney added, "It's my understanding they've already taken a couple of aircraft out."
Of course, we now know that Cheney's statement about aircraft having been "taken out" was false. But that doesn't change the gravity of the situation. It shows that the VP is more important than many may realize, even if (s)he never assumes the office of the Presidency.
The commission's description of actions taken by Cheney and President Bush, based in part on interviews with both men, provides new details of that morning. The report portrays the vice president taking command from his bunker while Bush, who was in Florida, communicated with the White House in a series of phone calls, and occasionally had trouble getting through.
Make no mistake, Vice President of the United States is the Big Leagues. If Sarah Palin can't even hold a single press conference in her first 4 weeks of campaigning, what makes anyone think she's ready for the next 9AM phone call?