Sarah Palin has attracted a lot of attention already, no doubt about it. But far too much of that attention is people attacking her based on a scandal here, a scandal there, and some outright gossip. People, this is not what we need and it will only help the McCain/Palin ticket. Obama is right - her family is off limits. Her motherhood is off limits as well. But her ability to govern is fair game. That's where we have to get after her.
The media so far has been making the Palin narrative about the self-described "pitbull with lipstick." (If this doesn't change, it will be a ringing indictment of the media failing to do their job.) We need to make it about the issues and about letting people know who she really is. Let's get past the speech (that someone else wrote weeks ago for a different VP candidate) and the fawning praise. Let's make our case against Palin in just a few points.
Palin brought in millions in federal pork-barrel spending.
Palin worked to bring Wasilla $27 million in earmarks. She worked with Ted Stevens to get this money. She got hundreds of millions in federal earmarks for the state of Alaska as governor. She supported the "Bridge to Nowhere" before it was politically convenient to say no to it.
Palin will continue the Bush administration's legacy of cronyism and politically motived firings.
Palin is already embroiled in the Troopergate issue, where she allegedly used her power to fire an ex in-law and pushed to remove the state's public safety commissioner. She fired the police chief for making her campaign contributors uncomfortable. She tried to fire the city librarian for refusing to censor books. She demanded loyalty tests of city employees. We have already seen the damage that cronyism can do to tis country; in particular, see New Orleans and "heckuva job, Brownie." We have seen several federal attorneys fired because they either didn't go after political enemies of the administration, or because they went after allies of Bush and Co. This culture has to go.
Palin has zero experience in foreign policy.
No, being next door to Russia does not count as foreign policy experience. I'm 60 miles from the Mexican border, so if her location makes her versed in foreign policy, then I'm a freakin' ambassador. One of America's greatest challenges right now is rebuilding the country's stature on the world stage. Both Obama and Biden are well versed in this arena. Palin would be at a dangerous disadvantage in dealing with world leaders.
Palin also does not have the experience needed to run this nation.
Do not fall into the right wing's trap on this. This is not about executive experience. If it was, I know some people that have owned and operated small businesses for decades that would be more experienced. And even there, Obama still has a very compelling argument when you look at his campaign organization. But the presidency is not about "executive experience." Being president is about bringing people together. It's about learning to compromise and get things done. It's also about going out into the world and working with leaders of other nations to move the world forward. It's about relationships, not pushing paper. Who do you want talking to a world leader - Biden or Palin? Obama has the experience - he has extensive lawmaking experience, top-notch leadership experience, extensive foreign policy experience, and a firm grounding in the Constitution. Never cede the experience argument.
Palin does not understand tax policy.
Alaska is a unique place as far as state revenues go. The state has no income tax and gets a huge amount of income from oil production. Due to the state being so flush with cash, she has never had to conquer a budget deficit. Palin increased taxes on oil companies and pushed to increase the city sales tax. She took the oil taxes and paid out $1200 to each resident of the state. (If that's not the same tax policy she now rails against, then what is?) And she got millions and millions in earmarks. The United States government is a completely different animal. There is no national sales tax, and you can't just pick an industry to give the country a massive boost in tax revenue. You can't just go get an earmark to increase budget revenues on the national level. The national debt is climbing beyond reach. Bush has been running a deficit every year in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Where does the Alaska experience come into play here? Continue cutting taxes recklessly in the matter of Bush or McCain and the deficits will continue to grow. Where on earth does she think she will get the money to close the deficit hole? She'll say that she'll cut, cut and cut. If she does, challenge her where we can find $500 billion a year to pay down the deficit and pay for more tax cuts. I'd LOVE to see her mention earmarks there.
These are just a few issues to hit her on. This is what we need to do. Forget about Sarah Palin the person and focus on Sarah Palin the candidate. And don't do it the way the Republicans do things, with malice and mockery and division. Because while we are opposed, we are all Americans and we are not enemies. Straight issues, not gossip. Take the narrative over and win the high ground. We can win this thing.