Palin as President of the Senate

[Brittain33]

How do people think Palin will do in the VP's role of working with Congress to get the President's agenda passed? She will most likely face a hostile Congress, and although I haven't run the numbers, it's possible that she will have been elected to governor with fewer votes than every single elected member of the Senate will have drawn in their most recent election. (Tim Johnson may be an exception, but I haven't looked it up; Wyoming is a smaller state, but the results are so lopsided and the senators such good Republicans it won't matter.)

Will she be respected by the world's greatest collection of egos? Does she have skills working with people who disagree with her on substantive issues? How does she help fill gaps in McCain's ability to work with others?

[Saxwsylvania]

Who cares?  The Vice President is hardly ever on the Senate floor.  They only show up to break tie-votes.

[Keystone Phil]

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I really doubt that she'd receive less respect from the opposition than our current Vice President.

Does she have skills working with those who disagree with her? I assume so. She's taken on her own party at home and has an approval rating of about 80%. This also speaks to her filling whatever gap that McCain has with working with others.

[Brittain33]

I really doubt that she'd receive less respect from the opposition than our current Vice President.

True, but Cheney had the luxury of working with a compliant and sizable Republican majority.

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The ideological spectrum is much narrower and slanted to the right than the federal spectrum, as surely all would acknowledge. It's like Bush talking about bringing Democrats and Republicans together in Texas, but the Democrats he was talking about there were the WD-40s who vote Republican on a federal level anyway.

Is Palin going to be able to roll Chuck Schumer? Maybe she can charm him. Hillary Clinton surprised everyone with her skill with Republican senators, and Palin may do the same. I mean this sincerely.

[Brittain33]

Who cares?  The Vice President is hardly ever on the Senate floor.  They only show up to break tie-votes.

I foresee Biden playing a major role in getting legislation passed, if elected.

[Keystone Phil]

True, but Cheney had the luxury of working with a compliant and sizable Republican majority.

Not these days.

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We'll have to wait and see. She seems very forceful but charming.

[Brittain33]

True, but Cheney had the luxury of working with a compliant and sizable Republican majority.

Not these days.

And no one would say the White House is a model of effectiveness this session, aside from the FISA bitter-enders on Daily Kos. It was in the past.

[Brittain33]

Palin got 114,697 votes in the 2006 general election. (Undoubtedly she'd draw a lot more in 2010, assuming no major scandals.)

Mike Enzi got 133,710 votes in 2002.
Joe Biden got 135,253 votes that year.
Kent Conrad got 150,146 votes in 2006. (I'm not going to look up Dorgan.)
Tim Johnson drew 167,481 in 2002.
Tom Carper drew 170,567 in 2006.
Bernie Sanders drew 171,638 in 2006.
Jon Tester got 199,845 in 2006.

[Torie]

Who cares?  The Vice President is hardly ever on the Senate floor.  They only show up to break tie-votes.

Yep, the VP doesn't interact with Congress much typically.

[WalterMitty]

Who cares?  The Vice President is hardly ever on the Senate floor.  They only show up to break tie-votes.

I foresee Biden playing a major role in getting legislation passed, if elected.

i foresee biden undercutting obama every chance he gets.

he has to feed that massive ego.

[Keystone Phil]

Palin got 114,697 votes in the 2006 general election. (Undoubtedly she'd draw a lot more in 2010, assuming no major scandals.)

Mike Enzi got 133,710 votes in 2002.
Joe Biden got 135,253 votes that year.
Kent Conrad got 150,146 votes in 2006. (I'm not going to look up Dorgan.)
Tim Johnson drew 167,481 in 2002.
Tom Carper drew 170,567 in 2006.
Bernie Sanders drew 171,638 in 2006.
Jon Tester got 199,845 in 2006.

And I really don't think, despite their egos, that they'll look down on her because they drew more votes. If she was Vice President, she'd then be able to say that she got millions of votes for her ticket and that she will be serving in the executive branch. The other's didn't and won't be getting there.

[HardRCafé]

Mike Enzi got 133,710 votes in 2002.
Joe Biden got 135,253 votes that year.
Kent Conrad got 150,146 votes in 2006. (I'm not going to look up Dorgan.)
Tim Johnson drew 167,481 in 2002.
Tom Carper drew 170,567 in 2006.
Bernie Sanders drew 171,638 in 2006.
Jon Tester got 199,845 in 2006.

Alan Keyes got 1,390,690 in 2004.  This is relevant because?

[King]

Palin got 114,697 votes in the 2006 general election. (Undoubtedly she'd draw a lot more in 2010, assuming no major scandals.)

Mike Enzi got 133,710 votes in 2002.
Joe Biden got 135,253 votes that year.
Kent Conrad got 150,146 votes in 2006. (I'm not going to look up Dorgan.)
Tim Johnson drew 167,481 in 2002.
Tom Carper drew 170,567 in 2006.
Bernie Sanders drew 171,638 in 2006.
Jon Tester got 199,845 in 2006.

Well, except in order to be President of the Senate, Palin will have earned about 60 million more votes in 2008.

[Brittain33]

Mike Enzi got 133,710 votes in 2002.
Joe Biden got 135,253 votes that year.
Kent Conrad got 150,146 votes in 2006. (I'm not going to look up Dorgan.)
Tim Johnson drew 167,481 in 2002.
Tom Carper drew 170,567 in 2006.
Bernie Sanders drew 171,638 in 2006.
Jon Tester got 199,845 in 2006.

Alan Keyes got 1,390,690 in 2004.  This is relevant because?

Because Senators have notoriously big egos and are hard to deal with, and she's going to have a lot to prove. That's all. This shouldn't be a partisan discussion; a Democrat coming in from outside Washington with limited experience is also going to suffer an equal lack of respect.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I think Palin would be very effective as the President of the Senate.  It is true that she would be facing a much different Congress than the one Dick Cheney inherited on January 20, 2001 from Al Gore, but she will be able to effectively congeal the Republican minority (even though they will be in the mere low 40s) and also be able to woo some of the Blue Dogs, such as Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson, etc.  I think John McCain will rest easy every night as President knowing that he made a great pick.

I think the same thing applies to Joe Biden, except he will be in the same position Cheney was in 2001 with a decent-sized majority of his own party.  Barack Obama would naturally have a much easier time passing legislation with a high 50s Senate and a high 230s House, and a very-knowledgeable Vice President.

There is no way either VP will undermine their bosses.

As a side note and for another thread, Palin is now in position to take Hillary Clinton head on in 2012 or 2016 as the "new girl on the block".

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Palin got 114,697 votes in the 2006 general election. (Undoubtedly she'd draw a lot more in 2010, assuming no major scandals.)

I have a hunch that Palin will never again be running for Governor

[Ronnie]

Palin got 114,697 votes in the 2006 general election. (Undoubtedly she'd draw a lot more in 2010, assuming no major scandals.)

I have a hunch that Palin will never again be running for Governor

I've been thinking wishfully as well lately.  It's just a phase.