Is Sarah Palin qualified to be President of the United States?

[Lunar]

Yes.  Executive experience is  more helpful than Legislative.

Right.

Being mayor of a town of five thousand and spending two years as governor of one of the smallest states in the union is much more helpful to a commander in chief than serving on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee or the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Or were you referring to her executive experience as Miss Alaska?

It's important to remember that one of the most important things that a president does is worth with the senate.  Personally, I think McCain and Obama both have gotten a tremendous amount of executive experience from running their own presidential campaigns.

[Lunar]

Is Sarah Palin qualified to be President of the United States?

Well, ....

...I'm not overjoyed with the experience of either the Republican Veep nominee nor the Democratic Presidential nominee.  Ironically, Palin has better administrative experience than anyone else on either ticket.

I say, running a successful presidential campaign > governor of Alaska for two years.  But they might be close, haha.

[Lunar]

What the hell happened to this thread? Something about intelligent design? Well, I'm not reading it.

Anyway, I'm feeling nervous at the moment, which means Palin is probably a good pick.

But, as others have already said, I do find it a bit curious at the same time. Once Hillary conceded back in June, Obama had a pretty big boost. Then McCain ran ads slamming Obama on his inexperience. They worked very well. Obama's lead was erased and McCain is leading in some general election polls again.

And now he picks Palin. Obama has been a Senator for almost four years, about half of which he's been running for President. Palin has been the Governor of one of the smallest states what, a year and a half? And before that was the mayor of a small city? The VP is supposed to be ready to become President at any time. McCain and the Republicans have made it clear they think Obama's inexperience is a huge reason (usually the #1 reason) not to vote for him. So it seems a little bit hypocritical in that regard. But that's just politics as usual.

I dunno, McCain's "experience" strategy just seemed to be working very well for him. It doesn't seem like he'll be to use that nearly as effectively as he was before. I also think Palin does have the potential to end up being a bad pick for McCain--but like I said earlier, she makes me nervous. I would have rather had Romney. So the potential of her being a good pick seem to be greater.

One thing to note when it comes to stealing Hillary voters - Hillary positioned herself as the "experienced candidate" and Obama's lack of experience is one of the number one reasons PUMA's refuse to vote for him.  Could they be won back by a woman with even less experience than Obama?

[Lunar]

I predict she makes foreign-policy gaffes, like confusing important countries, before this campaign is done.  I suppose that McCain's campaign might be giving her a crash-course in how to find Georgia on the map and so on, but that might not cover the intense media barrage.  I mean, most senators probably couldn't find X country on the map, and that will only be amplified for someone who comes from a rural area in a remote part of the globe.  No fault of her own, but I predict a gaffe or two on foreign affairs that will be used by the Obama campaign to "prove" her inexperience - you heard it here first

[Lunar]

We tend to hold our leaders to a higher standard than we hold ourselves.

Prior to 2007, she had only visited one international country, Ireland (according to her press secretary).  Canada was not mentioned.  Afterwards, she's visited national guard troops in several countries.  I'm not trying to hold it against her, I just expect her to be more like the average American when it comes to knowledge of affairs, meaning an inability to find Afghanistan on the map (which would not be good PR).

Like Kuwait:

[Lunar]

and that will only be amplified for someone who comes from a rural area in a remote part of the globe.

hur, hur, hur. rUralz aRe sTupId!!!!11111

Does anyone wonder why these guys can't win office outside of those elected by their state? As we've seen by their supporters here they must be pretty clueless.

Actually, if you look at the context of my quote is that I merely said that she might not be as aware of some of the specifics of global affairs as these senators.  I indeed stated that it's probably that many senators would make the same mistake as well, but being a rural mayor and, let's face it, governor for a good chunk of her adult life, her odds aren't great.  I think she is quite intelligent of a woman, but that her ability to distinguish Iraq's major ethnic groups or find Afghanistan/Georgia on a map might be the same as the average American and not what we expect our politicians to be able to do.  "Oh, I'm learning still" might not cut it and open for a minor Obama attack on her credibility.

My hometown I grew up in has 3,000 people, so smaller than Palin's village up in Alaska.  I didn't know my neighbors and my cat got eaten by a cougar when I was a kid.  I doubt any of y'all who are calling me an elitist grew up in a more rural area than me.

[Lunar]

ut being a rural mayor and, let's face it, governor for a good chunk of her adult life, her odds aren't great.

Don't see why being a rural mayor would be any more of a problem in that area than a city one. It's not as though urban (and suburban) local politicians are especially noted for their lack of parochialism.

Ok, you may have tied/beat me in the rural contest, haha, but I have 98% of Americans beat.

Well, I think there are a few answers to this.  First of all, sure, even if she was mayor of Seattle, she would still have foreign affairs probs.  Second, I mean rural in two senses, not only is her hometown rural but her state is in a remote part of the globe.  Third, combining the two senses in my "second" comment, I think the farther you are from an urban hub, the more you prioritize local news over briefing yourself up on international affairs.  I mean, do you think anyone gets the Financial Times in Wasilla, Alaska?  The biggest newspaper I saw anyone get in my hometown was the Sacramento Bee.  I mean, I'm sure she's watched the news and all, but at best she'd have the same international knowledge as a generic mayor, which, as you said, isn't much and could pose a problem if she doesn't get it all down before the media barrage.

[Lunar]

Wikipedia says, if I remember correctly, that 35% of the population commutes to Anchorage.

[Lunar]

Well, sbane, it's an easy decision when all you have to do is win a Democratic primary in Illinois to become elected.  I doubt Durbin sat down and thought about it too long when he opposed it.  The area that he was representing in the state senate was quite liberal and anti-war too, he might have lost his senate seat if he went hawk.

I can't remember the exact year that the Illinois GOP fell apart, it was before 2003, right?