Granted, I was never in charge of more than ~30 people at a time as a Marine officer, but even at that level it is far different to be the one in command and simply the advisor to the one in command. Your name is on the line for results, but you almost have to take a step back from the details and empower your subordinates while simultaneously supervising in a way that will not degrade trust but also keep you informed. I think that learning experience is important for any commanding officer, including the commander-in-chief.

Granted, it’s not 100% necessary for a leader, but I think executive experience does help prepare one for the presidency.

How important this is, frankly, is not that clear to me. I’m not trying to say that, if we’re comparing VP experience levels, that Palin is more qualified than Biden. What I am saying is that it’s two different levels of experience, and it’s not clear how much either one helps what.

Last night I was watching “This Week in Washington” on PBS with Gwen Ifil.
I was shocked at the smug and inappropriate comments especially from the female reporters about Sarah Palin.
I totally agree that with Sarah Palin’s remark that she is not going to Washington to please you the media, she is going to do thing to please me, the American voter. So get over it, Media! Get over your attitudes! Going on a TV show to get even does not look good in my eyes!
One reporter said she was insulted by Ms. Palin’s comments. I thought that the comments were fabulous, and the media needs to keep out of her family affairs. I can give some advice - “Those who live in glass houses, should not throw stones!”
Another reporter said that she needs to know everything about the VP nominee. No problem! However, her family life is private and should stay that way! The male candidates are never questioned about their families and whether they are able to work and take care of a family, so keep the focus where the focus should be.

Here are some examples if you are lost for ideas -Her experience, leadership, confidence, youth, vitality, fresh new attitude, role model for women, history making female, hard worker for the American citizen, political work, experience, communicator, and listener to what we need in Washington. I should also remind the reporters that women have been doing this for years, taking care of a family, working and going to school and in quite a few cases doing it alone!
These reporters were also talking about how small the town was where she was a mayor.
Hey, she ran a city, she ran a state, and she ran a business. Whether the town is small or the state is the largest in the union, the residents have the same needs, have the same concerns, have the same dreams and the problems that a leader faces can be sometimes more even challenging than running a larger city.
This Baracuda is proud to have Sarah Palin run as my Vice Presidential nominee.
Check out my blog at:
izatrinie.wordpress.com

I, like Jeff, don’t give stupid people that much credit. Don’t get me wrong. If all previous Presidents had been female, and there was a man on the ticket for Prez/Vice Prez, I think he’d get just as many “stupid votes” as Hillary would have received, and Palin [i]will receive[/i]. In other words, I’m not discrediting women. Just being realistic about the fickle, ignorant nature of some of today’s U.S. population.

On the same token, I think there are *some* black people that will vote for Obama just because he’s black. Call me crazy… And while you’re at it, define “sexism” and “racism”, and let me know when they cease to exist, so I can wake up from this God-forsaken nightmare. Because that’s what it feels like sometimes, when I have to face the fact that while most of us have moved beyond sex and race, some of us are still stuck in the past, ignorant of any good they may find in those they pre-judge.

Let us hope Jeff is wrong. Let us hope no one votes for McCain/Palin, just because they want a woman in the White House. Let us hope no one votes for Obama, just so he can be the first black president. Let us hope they vote for whom they think would do the best job, whose morals, principals, and stance on issues most closely matches their own. We can only hope…

I am one of those Hillary supporters and I will not pander to McCain’s weak choice as a replacement woman on any ticket. Someone said it well earlier. Pallin’s views are so ridicously conservative it’s pathetic. What woman would vote for someone who does not beleve in abortion in rape and incest cases? She will show her true colors before election and McCain will drop in the polls as time goes by. This does not mean I support everything Obama says and believes. I know I want to vote, I just wish I had a decent choice. You have a great website and I enjoy reading your comments but to suggest that stupid women will vote just because there’s a woman on the republican ticket is mad. There are just as many male idiots who won’t vote the ticket just because she is on there.

These campaigns have always been about pandering, and marketing. Is it any different to chase the southern white (racist?) vote than it is for another group to chase the inner city black (racist?) vote?

My thoughts on the process are similar to what Jeff states, but in a slightly different approach, in that there are 40% (approx) of the voters who will vote Democrat no matter what, 40% (approx) who will vote Republican no matter what. Of the remaining 20 percent, somewhere from 10-15% (equally distributed Dem-Rep) are very unlikely to change their vote regardless. Its the remaining 5-10% that truly are undecided and whose votes can be won. These are the ones that millions are spent on the mind numbing drivel of disinformation better known as commercials. I do believe there is a “undecided” portion of this group who do indeed have skulls full of mush, and would vote purely based on gender or race. I do believe there is a portion of this group who can be categorized as having an attention span of less than 30 seconds on the average. I do believe there is a portion of this group that will base their vote on a media reported gaffe rather than anything to do with the issues. That is the sad state of things in our country that we are depending on these folks to lead our country into the next presidential rotation.