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As a Republican for Obama, I cant help but wince when my old party blunders on, further into the wilderness. Team McCain realized they were in a hole, and handed Grampy a shovel and told him to keep digging. Gov. Sarah Palin, with just 18 months experience beyond that of Mayor of Wasilla, AK (Population 6,500), is a truly frightening choice as a potential President of the United States. As others have pointed out, merely having a vagina on the ticket is no sure way to bring America together.
One thing this will do: Gov. Palin certainly provides the ultimate motivation for Hillary Clinton to go the extra mile for Obama. If McCain/Palin were to win in November, it is a virtual certainty that a President Palin would become the first woman in the White House, relegating HRC to a footnote in history.
No matter where you stand on issues or political philosophy, there are just some limits on what can be considered acceptable in any rational choice for President or Vice President. McCain and Palin fail these tests, and it has nothing to do with where they stand on policy, or their records (or lack thereof) of performance in office.
1. Dementia - You can forgive a President many things (marital indescretion, influence pedalling with S&L swindlers, sleazy federal land deals for major contributors, ignorance on Iraq and Pakistan, etc.) but the obvious onset of dementia is NOT one of them.
This is your President's Brain in Dementia:
Any Questions?
Let us be clear (pun intended), 'political correctness' does not demand that we overlook obvious warning signs of Alzheimer's (or vacular dementia) among our political leaders. President Reagan (who was not as old as McCain) did not manifest obvious signs of Alzheimer's until after he had left office. In his rampant confusion, short and long term memory loss, irritability, flinty temper, wildly inconsistent and often directly conflicting statements, inappropriate humor, and disphasia (See his 'Cottage Cheese Moment') Image may be NSFW.
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McCain gives the impression not of a senior statesman, contemplative in his dottage, but of a deeply scarred and disturbed individual, doing his best to cope with encroaching cognitive dysfunction and appear as normally functional as possible. His frequent "Senior Moments" are not 'cute' or 'endearing', and should not be excused out of respect for his declining years. They are warning signs of a serious, and, thus far incurable and irreversible brain disease, which uniformly results in complete and total incapacity; often progressing quite rapidly in men of McCain's age.
Taken as a whole, it becomes extraordinarily likely that a President McCain would be succeeded by his Vice President, if not at some point of disability during his first term in office, then certainly in 2012, by which time his failing mental faculties will be too dramatic for the White House staff to conceal any longer.
2. "Worldliness" - Experience is not simply a question of 'time in public office'. Many individuals, leaders in different fields, hold a global consciousness, or at least a coherent 'worldview'. Bono, Ted Turner, and many other 'celebrities' regularly travel the world, meeting with leaders of nations, NGOs, and major corporations, immersing themselves in the study and experience of local situations, troublespots, cultural and ethnic conflicts, etc. They do not require PhDs in International Affairs to come to terms with a complex world, and the many social forces, economic factors, and technological changes which compete to determine its future. This sophistication does not require time in Congress, nor even service in government, but it does require a larger life than one spent entirely in the isolation of very rural small town Alaska.
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There are many paths to the political maturity best called "worldliness". Military service - even a stint in the Texas National Guard - can be one of them. Having a father or husband serving as President, accompanying them on tours around the world, or even absorbing their breadth and depth of knowledge 'by osmosis'. Or service abroad in the Peace Corps. Studying abroad as a Rhodes Scholar. Being CIA Director, or U.N. Ambassador. Travelling and speaking nationwide for many years, or heading a national union. Or attending Catholic School in Indonesia, while your mother is employed at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. Working overseas for an American company, or merely serving as an executive in a corporation with international business, or an NGO with global concerns.
None of these circumstances have conveyed the sophistication on Gov. Sarah Palin or informed her judgement in the way that a U.S. President must possess to be credible on the world stage. McCain could have picked Sen. Kaye Bailey Hutchison, or Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, or former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, among others, any of whom would have the gravitas to make a credible President, if worse came to worse. He did not. Picking a "Hockey Mom" as Vice President of the United States may win over a lot of weak-willed, easily exploited PUMAs, but it is very bad statecraft, made all the more remarkable by contrast with Obama's selection of Sen. Joe Biden.
3. THERE IS NO NUMBER THREE. A Presidential candidate entering senility, and a Vice Presidential candidate from Hooterville, one step removed from Ellie Mae Clampett, are a team that are blatantly disqualified from the center of power in western civilization. One needs no other reasons to vote against them, or for Obama/Biden on Nov. 4th.