President Paul Ryan? Think About it
There were many reasons a majority of Americans (including this writer) voted for Barack Obama rather than John McCain in 2008. But one big one was McCain’s choice of a running mate — Sarah Palin. The Alaska governor was so obviously, so manifestly unqualified to be President of the United States in the event President McCain died or became incapacitated, that the very thought of this possibility scared the daylights out of a lot of voters.
Which beings us to the 2012 election. Obviously almost all voters will — and should — make their selection for President in November based on who is on top of the ticket. Perhaps it might be worth sparing a moment or two on a just-in-case scenario, however, to think about who would take over if the man on the top were no longer able to govern. Biden or Ryan.
I’ll pass over the many and important ideological differences between the two here because they are quite clearly debatable. Let’s just look at some things that aren’t.
Biden has a longer career in an upper chamber of the national legislature. However he may be viewed among voters he is well respected within actual governing circles, even within Republican ranks, people with whom he often worked on legislation, befriended, done deals with over a long period of years.
Biden also has something that appears of increasing importance these days — broad foreign policy experience. He is especially knowledgeable about the Middle East and the Afghan-Pakistan-India parts of the world, places where he has actually been active making policy within the present administration.
Biden therefore isn’t the kind of person who would be dependent in an emergency on slanted input from think tankers, the military, or highly partisan other interests. He might take such advice or not, but he knows enough to look beyond it with an experienced personal eye.
Ryan came from a partisan think tank background and has been active in a highly partisan economic and tax debate during most of his time in the House of Representatives. He is not highly respected by members on the other side of the aisle because he has never seriously negotiated with them much less cut deals with them in any meaningful way.
In foreign affairs he has no noticeable experience whatever and would thus be totally dependent on Pentagon, think tank, and special political interests for advice in making decisions.
We will vote the top of the ticket in the next month or so. But many of us will also look a bit lower on the ticket. The differences here go well beyond the ideological. If Palin scared you because she might have been a heartbeat from the presidency, maybe you should feel the same about Rep. Paul Ryan. Personally, I find the thought terrifying.
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Interesting, Hillary criticized Obama for his lack of experience, especially foreign affairs. How many Dems said, well with his quick mind and good advisers, he will/is doing just fine. Has he? That’s debatable, but the fact is Ryan would be in the same position, that is reliant on advisers and his new VP. So every argument against/for Obama can be polished up and be recycled regarding Romney or Ryan.
BTW: I prefer a candidate or VP to have administrative experience, like governor or even a mayor like Bloomberg, than an “expert” in one particular area with perhaps a narrower focus on things.
I too look to the top of the ticket, but it’s not a bad to look at the VP pick (on both sides). Neither Biden nor Ryan really “scare” me like Palin did.
DDuck: “Administrative experience like governor or even a mayor like Bloomberg
”
OK, but I don’t think Ryan has even that kind of experience. He’s a carrier politician in the House sure, but his track record shows a hard partisan with little experience working with a diverse set opinions.
I’m not voting for the Romney/Ryan ticket for many reasons but Ryans lack of experience isn’t too high on that list.
Rambie, I didn’t say he had that kind of experience, so we are forced to agree, a thing that very few on TMV like to do when facing the other side. (Why, I don’t know.)
Dduck, I agree, it’s not often that both sides find common ground.
BTW, I always loved that you use queerduck as your avatar.
That is Duckman, the greatest adult cartoon series.
Seriously..trying to tell me that Sarah Palin, a highly successful Mayor, a highly successful Oil and Gas regulator [one of the most powerful jobs in Alaska] and an incredibly successful GOVERNOR with the best record on every single issue one uses to measure governors by, isn’t qualified to be president, but this guy Paul Ryan, with no business or Executive government experience IS?
..
BTW, Governor Palin has far more practical foreign policy experience than Ryan does.
Paul Ryan couldn’t even answer the simplest of tax questions on Fox News Sunday yesterday, and Chris Wallace was pitching him softballs!
Don’t get me wrong, The Boy Wonder™ is better than Joe Biden, but so is a pet rock.
The only positive thing to say about Romney and Ryan is they aren’t Obama and Biden and at least they won’t make things worse. Neither are the ideal candidate. But 2012 saw the worst bunch of candidates either party ever fielded.
… Wall Street Journal had this to say about Governor Palin in 2008:
“Compared to Bill Clinton, Sarah Palin is an Executive Giant”
http://thespeechatimeforchoosing.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/flashback-wall-street-journal-2008-compared-to-bill-clinton-sarah-palin-is-an-executive-giant/
.. Governor Palin accomplished more as Mayor and during her three legislative terms as Governor than most politicians, including two term presidents, will in a lifetime:
http://thespeechatimeforchoosing.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/governor-sarah-palins-incredible-executive-accomplishments/
In 2008 out of the four people on the presidential tickets, Governor Palin was the only one actually qualified to be President.
@black…
hello there black; your post has been edited, and the screen name you want to be called is taken by another, so your pick has been added to: 123blackwater.
If you dont care for that, choose another screen name, keeping in mind at TMV we think it’s great that people often use their first names or nicknames, or whole names, as we on staff do ourselves. But, it’s not required.
Read the commenter’s rules for TMV. They are at the top of the home page. There is no attacking the writer or other commenters, no matter what a commenter thinks about others’ brainpower, intelligence, or lack of same in their opinion.
Our rules are simple and straightforward, including commenters staying to the topic of the post, not highjacking topics, and keeping comments as comments not treatises.
There are millions of sites on the net where commenters can vent, name call, snipe and snark and attack to their heart’s content. Just not here. TMV keeps the comments area for civil dialogue, civil debate, and teaching.
Thanks.
Archangel/ dr.e
black…:
In addition to what Dr. E mentioned, I’d like to take the liberty to point out that here at TMV we try to quote things in context.
Keeping that in mind, your:
Happens to be, in full context:
Significant difference, wouldn’t you say?
Great, eye-opening piece on Ryan’s deviousness, his opposition to bipartisan compromises,etc, here,summarized by the author as:
@ DR. CLARISSA PINKOLA ESTÉS
So noting that a writers premise, that Governor Sarah Palin supposedly isn’t qualified to be president is an “attack”?
Seriously?
Not only was Palin the only one out of the four people on the presidential tickets in 2008, who was actually qualified, she’s supremely more qualified than Barack Obama or Mitt Romney are now.
Sadly the author thinks he had trash Sarah Palin to make a point about Ryan. That’s why he needed to be called out.
As for Ryan, at least he has a working brain. Joe Biden is clearly mentally challenged. His job is to serve as Barack Obama’s insurance policy. Not matter what Obama does, no matter how many crimes against humanity he is guilty of, he will never be impeached, because then Joe would be president!
Of course we’ll fix all of that in November.
I’ll be happy to provide as many examples of that as you wish, BTW, Joe in his own words.
Anyhow, my point was, the author trashed Sarah Palin, without a single fact, and was incredibly wrong, and that’s not opinion, it’s fact.
BTW, “moderates” seem to forget that As Governor, Palin shared command and control of the 49th Missile Defense Brigade, and received high level national security briefings. On he watch, the 176th Air Wing of the Alaska National Guard routinely escorted Russian Bear bombers out of Alaskan air space. In fact, the 176th received the Air Force’s Outstanding Unit award for these sort of activities, while she was their Commander-in-Chief.
It is said that Palin’s national security clearance level was on par with those at the highest level in Congress on the National Security committees. Seeing that she has been right on every foreign policy issue that has come up since Obama has been president, and correctly predicted the outcomes of his mistakes, it shows that she was well plugged in. [I can provide links]
In 2008 Blackfive a website devoted to national security issues, spoke of Palin’s national security cred.
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2008/08/commanding-the.html
You’ll find more about Sarah Palin’s military and national security credentials at the “accomplishments” link above.
I know this article is about Paul Ryan, and my only comment on both Ryan and Romney is they aren’t Obama and Biden. That’s good enough!
As for the screen thing name, that’s fine. Had your site told me the name was already take, well ….
Anyhow, the record on all of this needs to be set straight, thanks for the opportunity.
@ DORIAN DE WIND
Had you read the entire article you’d have learned Alaska’s Governor sits as the second most powerful Executive in the country, with a wide range of powers that Governors like Bill Clinton never had. Context matters.
Reading Alaska’s constitution one finds the people of Alaska made the Governor the CEO. A strong Executive that can do an incredible amount, on their own, but of course, is held more accountable in the process.
Palin had a sustained approval rating in the 90s, BTW.
That’s where the “Executive Giant” vs Clinton comes from, not just the amounts of money we’re talking about.
Palin’s outstanding record as Governor speaks for itself.
Power or not, other Executives, including Obama have had the opportunities to accomplish what she did, and yet none have. She even accomplished things in Alaska, like sweeping ethics reform, and AGIA, that the previous 9 Alaska Governors could never accomplish.
It’s funny, for some reason you guys value deal making and bi-partisanship as an end all, be all. Well, if you look at Palin’s record, she was able to bring the democrats on board with almost 100% of her initiatives. In fact only one democrat voted against AGIA, the largest infrastructure project in North American history, and it was later found he had a financial stake in an alternative project. Corruption was pretty bi-partisan in Alaska!
When she was the state’s top oil and gas regulator, found massive corruption [that was mostly within the Republican Party] the Attorney General threatened her with legal action if she blew the whistle. She teamed up with a democrat lawmaker and not only took down the Attorney General, but the state Republican Party chairman, and of course, the Governor.
There is a book “Sarah Takes on Big Oil” that goes into some of this. It details her time as Chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Buy the book from Amazon.
It’s just a shame she didn’t run for President this time. She would be the nominee not Romney, and Obama would already be packing his bags and headed to that new home in Hawaii he’s reportedly purchased.
More importantly, she has the experience to get America back on track, and reform Washington. She’s done it all before.
123black
you’re right, your comments will be removed for attacking the writer or other commenters here. That means not calling out others rather than debating the issue. If you want to present all the facts you wish, that can be done in a civil manner. No one needs to be told their point of view is idiocy or other uncivil aspersions cast. It’s clear neither you or anyone else can read others’ minds, as in “you guys value deal making”… etc.
Your 2 most recent comments complain about writers and others here. This comments area is for discussion about the topic, not opinion about other commenters and authors. Just the facts and your thoughts about the topic would be great.
Personally have written many articles here about Palin that are not negative, in fact defending her in certain ways. Others here have a plethora of opinions about her, and many of our writers have written various about her. Just saying a factual overview of TMV is useful.
As mentioned throwing name-calling and pretending to read minds can be done on millions of sites across the internet, but not here. Read the Commenter’s rules. They are clear. Abide and all will be well.
thanks
archangel/dr.e
The thought of Sarah Palin becoming president was clearly unthinkable – to anyone who was thinking that is. Yes, McCain blundered badly with that choice. I suppose desperation was the trigger, a sort of wild hail Mary pass. As for the difference between Ryan and Biden? Biden is the adult. Ryan is wet behind the ears. And btw, Ryan is NOT cut from the same cloth as Obama, despite some of the surface similarities. He has no business being in th White House. Neither does the Mitt for that matter.
Hi there 123black
I usually ignore laundry lists or long dissertations generally copied from political web sites, campaign web sites, political biographies or seriously partisan web sites as is obviously the case with your long adulatory treatises of Sarah Palin.
But since you addressed your comment to me, I will answer it this time.
First, to say that I stand by my claim that the Palin-Clinton quote has been taken out of context. You disagree, and I respect your disagreement.
Second, to say that — if I wished and wanted to take the time — I could also copy reams of laudatory stuff on Obama’s, Clinton’s, Biden’s, whomever’s accomplishments that would make Palin’s pale in comparison. But I know that you would still call them mentally challenged pet rocks, which is your right.
Just as it is mine to totally agree with the author’s statement of fact that “the Alaska governor was so obviously, so manifestly unqualified to be President of the United States in the event President McCain died or became incapacitated, that the very thought of this possibility scared the daylights out of a lot of voters.”
I would only add that that I believe Palin is equally unqualified to be even vice-president.
Over to you, but keep it nice
It most certainly does.
Palin’s record as Governor will always be remembered first and foremost as the record of a quitter… And the fact that she quit, she gave up her responsibility to the people and state of Alaska, to chase the ‘almighty dollar’ doesn’t help her at all.
Her support for the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ will be number two on the list.