Countdown: She's Really a Good Girl

More days till the Palin-Biden Debate



Palin's Parents Say She's a Good Girl!

Here's a surprise: Sarah Palin's parents think she's a swell gal and they don't like the media questioning that.

That's what they told CBS news yesterday. And CBS news thought that was actually news-worthy. But isn't that what parents are supposed to say? Wouldn't Biden's mom say the same thing about the dirt the Republicans have been digging up about him, or Obama's parents, if they were still alive, about him? And would CBS news have a special report on that, as well?

Here's what Palin's parents need to understand. When a person runs for the second highest office in the land they open themselves up to an intense scrutiny that is sometimes fair, sometimes not. Too much is at stake for a candidate simply to be allowed to let their parents or their bowling buddies tell us who they are. We need to hear from everyone who knows them and examine everything they have ever done. And because this is politics and not the PTA there will be many who will be out to discredit this candidate because the party whose candidate they oppose will be doing the exact same thing to their candidate.

Information that reporters have dug up on their daughter suggest, in fact, that this is how Sarah Palin has gotten to where she is today - by dissing anyone who gets in her way. She, in other words, is just as good at digging in the dirt as anyone else. While I would rather see no one engage in this kind of politics, its much harder to feel sympathy for someone who does it themselves.

But here's what Palin's parents really need to understand. What the press is doing for the most part is helping us understand whether or not their daughter is qualified for the second most important political position in the most powerful country in the world. This has nothing to do with how nice she is. This has to do with her qualifications for national office. We are willing to believe that she is a good mother and a hard worker. We understand that she is extremely talented and a natural leader. All of these things that her parents wish us to understand about her, we do understand. What we don't understand is why Senator McCain thought she was qualifed for this position.

In the few times she's been allowed to respond to questions with her own thoughts she has evidenced a pitiable lack of knowledge about the very things a vice president needs to know. I don't care how quick a read she is, there is simply no way that she can get up to speed within two or three months. This is not an SAT exam. This is holding responsibility for the administration of the world's most powerful country. No major corporation would even begin to consider someone with insufficient experience or knowledge to be a vice president in their company. Why should we consider putting in office someone with as thin a resume as their daughter?

Mr. and Mrs. Palin: we think you have a fine daughter. She is charming and charismatic and has gone far with grit and determination. She is a gifted leader on the local and state level. She has a wonderful family; a model for working mothers everywhere. But she is not qualified to be vice president of the United States. That more than anything else is what the investigative reporting you are so critical of has determined. She is not suitable for this position. I hope you understand that this is not personal. It's the truth.