Plumb Bob Blog

08/31/2008 (7:00 pm)

Ready To Lead?

One of my readers pointed me today toward the following comparison between presidential candidate Barack Obama and Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. I borrowed it from Flopping Aces, who found it on RedState.com.

The most important thing to remember about this comparison is that if McCain gets elected President, Sarah Palin will most likely be chairing the Senate and meeting with functionaries touring the White House, whereas if Obama gets elected, he will be running the government of the most powerful nation on earth. That we’re comparing Palin to Obama (favorably for Palin) rather than McCain to Obama, says everything that needs to be said. Nobody doubts that McCain is ready to lead the nation; if Sarah Palin is not ready to lead, Barack Obama is less so, and he’s the top of the ticket. I have never seen so lopsided a contest in my entire life, and that includes Reagan v. Carter. There is simply no excuse for the Democratic party to proffer such a lame nominee for President; if Democrats are smart, they’ll spend a lot of time trying to understand how it happened.

RedState also drew my attention to yet another miscue by the Obama campaign, wherein the campaign first fired a nastygram at Palin, then tried to reverse field and talk nice. For a man claiming to be expert at least at communication, he’s done this an awful lot of times. Politico counts the ways, noting that Obama’s reflex seems to be to blame it on his staff. How… noble of him. The man is simply incompetent, and of low character to boot.

The following comparison is obviously partisan. However, it is factually accurate. Enjoy.

Office being sought	Vice President	President of the United States and Leader of the Free World
Full name	Sarah Louise Heath Palin	Barack Hussein Obama II
Nickname	Sarah Barracuda	Barry Obama; “The One”
Public opinion	Smoking hot in a “naughty librarian” sort of way	May be The Messiah
Age	44	48
Children	5: two sons, three daughters	2: two daughters
Religion/Church attendance	Evangelical Christian; attends Juneau Christian Center when in Juneau and grew up attending Wasilla Assembly of God	Attended Trinity United Church of Christ for 20 years, a “black liberation theology” church formerly led by Rev. Jeremiah Wright and governed according to the Black Value System
Current Job	Governor of Alaska	Junior Senator from Illinois
Previous Public Jobs	Mayor of Wasilla, AK (1996-2002); President of Alaska Conference of Mayors; City Council member (1992-1996)	State Senator (1997-2004); Community Organizer
Executive Experience	Governor for 2 years; Mayor for 10 years	Chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge for 5 years.
Foreign Relations experience	Governor of state that borders two foreign countries (Canada and Russia); negotiated $24 billion natural gas pipeline with foreign corporation.	Chaired Senate subcommittee on Europe but never called it into session; once gave a speech to 200,000 screaming Germans
Military Affairs experience	Commander in Chief of Alaska National Guard; Son is enlisted Infantryman in U.S. Army	None
Private Sector Experience	Sports reporter; Salmon fisherman	Associate at civil rights law firm
Speaking ability	Beautifully executed initial stump speech in Dayton, OH hockey arena without a teleprompter	An enter…wait–did you say without a teleprompter??
Most Courageous Moment in Public Service	Resigned in protest from position of Ethics Commissioner of Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in order to expose legal violations and conflicts of interest of Alaska Republican leaders, including the former state Attorney General and the State GOP Chairman (who was also an Oil & Gas Commissioner), who was doing work for the party on public time and supplying a lobbyist with sensitive e-mail.	Gave an anti-Iraq war speech to a crowd of anti-Iraq war demonstrators in Hyde Park in 2002
In Current Office Because…	Upset sitting Governor in GOP primary due to public support for her efforts to clean up corrupt government establishment	Republican opponent, who was leading in the polls, was forced to leave race after unsealing of divorce records exposed a sex scandal
Theme:	Change and Clean Government	Hope and Change; “Bringing Change from Outside Washington”
What they’ve done to live that theme:	Replaced entire Board of Agriculture and Conservation because of conflict of interest; Resigned from position of Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in order to expose corruption among members of own party	Selected 36-year incumbent Senator as running mate
Family Affairs	May have removed State Public Safety Commissioner as part of effort to protect sister in messy divorce and child custody battle	Often says, “I am my brother’s keeper”; Brother lives in a hut in Nairobi on $12 per year
Union affiliation	Union member, married to Union member	Endorsed by a union
Iraq and Troop Support	Formerly (pre-surge) critical of apparent lack of long-term strategy for Iraq; Visited wounded U.S. soldiers in Germany; visited AK National Guard soldiers deployed to Kuwait; Son deploying to Iraq on 9/11/08 as Army infantryman	Gave an anti-Iraq war speech to a crowd of anti-Iraq war demonstrators; almost visited wounded troops in Germany, but decided to go shopping in Berlin instead
Bipartisan/”maverick” credentials	Married to a non-Republican; Exposed corruption within own party; Campaigned for Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell against corrupt GOP congressman Don Young; Called out Sen Ted Stevens (R-AK) to “come clean” about financial dealings that are under fed investigation	Talks about bipartisanship
Legislative Record	Passed a landmark ethics reform bill; Used veto to cut budgetary spending; Prevented “bridge to nowhere” that would have cost taxpayers $400 million dollars.	Voted “present” over 100 times as IL state senator
How they dealt with corrupt individuals in home city/state	Exposed legal violations and conflicts of interest of Alaska Republican leaders; Campaigned against corrupt GOP Representative; Ran against and defeated corrupt incumbent governor in GOP primary	Launched political career in home of unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers (and still refers to him as a part of “mainstream Democratic Chicago”; Purchased home with help of convicted felon Tony Rezko
Guns	Lifetime member of NRA and avid hunter; video can be found on YouTube of Palin firing an M4 at a military firing range	Worked to pass legislation in Illinois that would prevent all law-abiding citizens from owning firearms
Earmarks	Opposed “Bridge to Nowhere” project; Said Alaska should avoid relying on federal money for projects; Campaigned against porker Don Young (R-AK) in 2008 primary	Secured federal earmarks for wife’s employer and for campaign bundlers
Abortion	Pro life; gave birth to 5th child knowing that he would have Down’s syndrome	Pro-choice; only IL state sen. to speak against the Born Alive Infant’s Protection Act, which required medical care to be given to live infants who survived abortions