CNN Video Anderson Cooper Obama Experience vs Sarah Palin
Politics up to the Minute
by Mark Halperin
“For Barack Obama to argue that he’s experienced enough to be president because he’s running for president is desperate circular logic and it’s laughable. It is a testament to Barack Obama’s inexperience and failing qualifications that he would stoop to passing off his candidacy as comparable to Governor Sarah Palin’s executive experience managing a budget of over 10 billion dollar dollars, and more than 24,000 employees.” —Tucker Bounds, spokesman John McCain 2008
Barack Obama Said That He Had More Executive Experience Because Of The Size Of His Campaign.
CNN’s ANDERSON COOPER: “And Senator Obama, my final question, some of your Republican critics have said you don’t have the experience to handle a situation like this. They’ve in fact said that Governor Palin has more executive experience as mayor of a small town and as governor of a big state of Alaska. What’s your response?”
OBAMA: “Well, my understanding is that Governor Palin’s town of Wasilla has I think 50 employees. We’ve got 2,500 in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe $12 million a year. You know, we have a budget of about three times that just for the month. So I think that our ability to manage large systems and to execute I think has been made clear over the last couple of years.”
(CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees,” 9/1/08)
But Not The Guy Below
Comment by Bram on 5 September 2008:
.. provide the good service they’ve (Americans) come to expect…
What is this, he’s running a McDonald’s? Sounds more liie he’s talking about the consistency of the hamburgers.
Comment by Heather on 6 September 2008:
What an utterly absurd and ridiculous argument for executive experience. By that logic, every president is qualified for president by virtue of running a campaign. Hmm, great way to belittle, and downplay the jobs of all the mayors and governors out there.
Comment by Heather on 6 September 2008:
Such arrogance and self-aggrandizement. Disgusting. I guess the descriptions of elitist are somewhat correct.
Very unlike Palin’s more humble self-description as “a hockey-mom”.
The more I hear from the junior senator from IL the less likely I am to vote for him just on the basis of character alone. Whatever happened to taking the higher road of integrity and not mudslinging your opponents?
I am a registered democrat but I will say that Senator Obama lost my vote when he failed to give a straightforward answer concerning his ties to certain questionable individuals. I noticed a trend of initially coming to the defense of said individuals followed by a quick denouncement. Which response was the real Senator Obama? Was the quick denouncement an acknowledgment of poor choices in the company that he keeps or was it instead an attempt to pander to voters? For someone who questions the judgment and integrity of others, this type of behavior is repugnant.
As for Senator Obama’s choice for VP. During the primary season he attacked his fellow democratic opponents on their decision to authorize military action in Iraq and claimed to have good judgment in not agreeing with the War. So, how does one explain good judgment in selecting someone who voted for that war? How does one promote change when selecting a long time Washington insider as a running mate?
Perhaps the choice was to add “experience” to the ticket. If so, then why should I vote for someone who needs a more experienced individual on his ticket? What does this say about Senator Obama’s self-analysis of his own experience?
Go on and attack McCain’s VP pick as inexperienced. For starters, Palin is #2 on that ticket not #1 so in no way do I feel like this removes the ability to question Senator Obama’s experience. Obama is running against McCain not Palin. McCain also highlighted change and his own maverick appeal by choosing a Washington outsider who also has no qualms about standing up to her own party…Somehow this doesn’t looks like another Bush term…
Before all the comments start about me being a false democrat…I haven’t said I was voting for McCain-Palin. I am just giving the GOP ticket another look just as I will the independent choices out there.
While I am a registered democrat…my views are more or less split between the two platforms. On several social issues I tend to be democratic…but on issues such as taxes, government, and foreign policy I tend to be more republican. I’m sure there are a lot of voters that fall in between the two parties. So current issues usually play a role in how I will vote. It comes down to choosing the lesser of two evils or choosing the better candidate to address current affairs.
I’m sure there are some readers out there who will just use this opportunity to try and rebut my comment by still calling me a closet republican or whatever…Go on…there’s always plenty of ignorant, biased individuals that just like to hear or read their own views.
There’s a quote that I will close with,
“Simple minds talk about people; Average minds discuss events; and Brilliant minds share ideas.”