Sunday, September 07, 2008

Examining Sarah Palin #4

Sarah Palin has no foreign policy experience

My first thought upon hearing Sarah Palin was tapped for the vice-presidental slot was that McCain had made a big mistake. He was running on an experience based platform, and it was working. Choosing Sarah Palin as a running mate invalidates this strategy. Palin has little experience related to the office she seeks, and what experience she has will damage McCain's chances... because her experience is meaningless, trivial, even laughable.

Republican talking heads started to manage the message soon after the convention. I heard that Palin's experience as the commander of Alaska's National Guard qualified as foreign policy experience. The rational was that if Alaskan troops were in Iraq, and Palin was their commander, then her command of the troops is foreign policy experience. Of course, once the Alaska National Guard deploys overseas, they fall under the command of the Pentagon. Governors has no say of their troops abroad. At most, the coordinate care packages. Where is Palin's foreign policy experience? 

I looked up the definition for foreign policy to be sure. It is defined as policies of the federal government directed to matters beyond US borders, especially relations with other countries.

Palin has never been part of the federal government, nor has she participated in treaty negotiations, nor has she been a diplomat, or official emissary of the United States. She has no foreign policy experience whatsoever. The cake is a lie.

CNN's Campbell Brown talks about Palin's experience with McCain's media point man Tucker Bounds. In the video, Bounds does his best to paint Palin's non-existent foreign policy experience in a positive light. He fails and looks like an idiot in the process.

Hat tip: Donklephant