Skip to main content

Sarah Among the Lions

The gaffe meter is running, said one reporter for a state-wide newspaper.

Gaffs there will be, sure as shooting, in the debate, so called, between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, the Republican and Democrat nominees for vice president. And writers for the late night comics will be watching eagerly, pen in hand, to record every misstep. The show must go on; material must be fed into the comic machine; attention must be paid.

The experience vs inexperience topic still resonates among commentators and reporters. Of course, the most experienced political player in the political game right now is current all-time gaffer champ President George Bush, the Yogi Berra of presidential gaffers, and those people who have been accustomed to beating Palin over the head with their “lack of experience” comic blatters don’t like him at all. Apparently, there are two kinds of presidential experience: the good kind and the bad kind.

No less an authority on things political than Woopie Goldberg has pointed out on The View, a program well received by liberal women and late night comics, that none of the current presidential or vice presidential candidates have any presidential experience.

So there, as Barbera Walters might say.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain has more and wider experience in foreign policy issues than does Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama; Biden is more experienced, foreign policy wise, than Palin. For those who think that inexperience on both sides is evenly balanced in the scales, it should be pointed out that McCain, not Palin, is running for president.

On the other hand, Palin, whose duties as vice president will be largely ceremonial, will be, as the phrase has it, but “a heart-beat away” from the presidency. This is most often said by people who imagine, when they are not hoping, that a newly elected President McCain will kick the bucket about two seconds after he has been sworn into office.

There are two views on the upcoming vice presidential debate: 1) Biden, who can be acerbic at times, will crush Palin beneath his hobnailed boots; 2) Palin will make a gaff that will confirm the worst suspicions of Woopie Goldberg, and the Republican ship will go down in flames.

Neither scenario is likely.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Palin will do much better in a debate format than with the reporters. Her interviews were not normal interviews by any means. She was not being questioned about any real issues, but about her very soul by people who had no qualms about spreading the most vile rumors about her and her family.

How anyone could sit still and think calmly during this is beyond me. If Gov. Palin had to negotiate with the Iranians, she would be under no obligation to be civil with them.
Don Pesci said…
That’s pretty much it. Do you remember the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland: “First the verdict, then the trial.”

Unfriendly Palin commentators are the Queen. They’ve already written the script for their columns and have only to plug in the atmospherics: Sarah the idiot commits another unforgivable gaffe. That is how I read the pre-debate commentary in the Courant and most other liberal newspapers. You cannot believe how frustrated these people get when the facts on the ground do not support their prepared narratives. First the commentary, then the debate.

Personally, I hope Sarah disappoints them all. Because in that case, they will have to think before they write. So, I have my fingers crossed.

She’s probably a better debater that she has been given credit for by, among others, Bill Curry, Courant funny guy Shea, Colin McEnroe, Bessy Reyna and the whole gang-banging crew.

I won’t be able to see the debate because my wife wants to see a production of
A Man for All Seasons,” reputed to be ex-Governor and Senator Lowell Weicker’s favorite drama. In his political career, Weicker often mistook himself for Thomas More.

In any case, I’m sure I’ll learn more from the play than from the so called debate. And there is always tomorrow.

Popular posts from this blog

The Blumenthal Burisma Connection

Steve Hilton , a Fox News commentator who over the weekend had connected some Burisma corruption dots, had this to say about Connecticut U.S. Senator Dick Blumenthal’s association with the tangled knot of corruption in Ukraine: “We cross-referenced the Senate co-sponsors of Ed Markey's Ukraine gas bill with the list of Democrats whom Burisma lobbyist, David Leiter, routinely gave money to and found another one -- one of the most sanctimonious of them all, actually -- Sen. Richard Blumenthal."

Donna

I am writing this for members of my family, and for others who may be interested.   My twin sister Donna died a few hours ago of stage three lung cancer. The end came quickly and somewhat unexpectedly.   She was preceded in death by Lisa Pesci, my brother’s daughter, a woman of great courage who died still full of years, and my sister’s husband Craig Tobey Senior, who left her at a young age with a great gift: her accomplished son, Craig Tobey Jr.   My sister was a woman of great strength, persistence and humor. To the end, she loved life and those who loved her.   Her son Craig, a mere sapling when his father died, has grown up strong and straight. There is no crookedness in him. Thanks to Donna’s persistence and his own native talents, he graduated from Yale, taught school in Japan, there married Miyuki, a blessing from God. They moved to California – when that state, I may add, was yet full of opportunity – and both began to carve a living for them...

Lamont Surprised at Suit Brought Against PURA

Marissa P. Gillett, the state's chief utility regulator, watches Gov. Ned Lamont field questions about a new approach to regulation in April 2023. Credit: MARK PAZNIOKAS / CTMIRROR.ORG Concerning a suit brought by Eversource and Avangrid, Connecticut’s energy delivery agents, against Connecticut’s Public Utility Regulatory Agency (PURA), Governor Ned Lamont surprised most of the state’s political watchers by affecting surprise.   “Look,” Lamont told a Hartford Courant reporter shortly after the suit was filed, “I think it is incredibly unhelpful,” Lamont said. “Everyone is getting mad at the umpires.   Eversource is not getting everything they want and they are bringing suit. It was a surprise to me. Nobody notified me. I think we have to do a better job of working together.”   Lamont’s claim is far less plausible than the legal claim made by Eversource and Avangrid. The contretemps between Connecticut’s energy distributors and Marissa Gillett , Gov. Ned Lamont’s ...