Former Republican Sec. State: "Of Course" Palin's Not Prepared to Be Commander in Chief
By: Lowell Published On: 10/31/2008 5:43:19 AM
Why is this so hard for some people to understand?
A former Republican Secretary of State and one of John McCain's most prominent supporters offered a stunningly frank and remarkably bleak assessment of Sarah Palin's capacity to handle the presidency should such a scenario arise.
Lawrence Eagleburger, who served as Secretary of State under George H.W. Bush and whose endorsement is often trumpeted by McCain, said on Thursday that the Alaska governor is not only unprepared to take over the job on a moment's notice but, even after some time in office, would only amount to an "adequate" commander in chief.
"And I devoutly hope that [she] would never be tested," he added for good measure -- referring both to Palin's policy dexterity and the idea of McCain not making it through his time in office
Again, this is coming from Republican and big-time McCain supporter Larry Eagleburger, who knows a few things about foreign policy. The bottom line is that, whatever you might have thought about John McCain prior to this campaign, he has demonstrated horrendous judgment in putting Sarah Palin "one heartbeat away" from the presidency. For that reason alone, McCain has lost millions of peoples' votes, as well he should. I strongly recommend that any diehard McCain-Palin supporters reading this consider voting for Bob Barr or something (leave the top line blank?).
Comments
And Also . . . (Jim K. - 10/31/2008 11:45:41 AM)
Good posting, Lowell. This might be important for some Independents and weak McCain supporters. I also think Dems should hit McCain harder of his own lack of preparedness to be commander in chief. First of all, his experience in being shot down and held prisoner in Vietnam hardly qualifies him. As Clemenseau said, "War is too important to be left to generals" (nevermind that McCain never came close to achieving an admiral's rank in the navy). Second, his most prominent experience in Senate in recent years had to do with commerce, not foreign or national security policy. Third, whatever relevant experience he has had apparently didn't produce sound judgement. Think about it. On our most important national security issue in the past 5 years--namely, on whether to invade Iraq in 2003--McCain got it wrong. That was far more telling than his supposed wisdom in later urging the surge. It is premature to conclude that the surge will have lasting beneficial results on the political make-up and alliances of Iraq, but it is not premature to conclude that the original invasion was misguided. For me, I'd rather have Obama answering the phone at 3 in the morning.