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Mediamatters.Org - A September 29 CBSNews.com article asserted
that "[Gov. Sarah] Palin's readiness to be president in the event
she and [Sen. John] McCain are elected and McCain becomes incapacitated has
been widely questioned by Democrats and many in the media," but did not
note that many of those who were "question[ing]" Palin's
readiness are conservatives. In fact, as CBS Early
Show national correspondent Jeff Glor noted during the September 29
edition of The Early Show, "even some conservatives
are concerned, including syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker, who said Palin
is 'clearly out of our league' and called for the Alaska governor to leave the race."
Earlier, Early Show co-host
Maggie Rodriguez stated: "[T]he question a lot of Americans are asking
this morning, including some prominent Republicans, is whether Sarah Palin is
ready."
On September 26, Parker wrote: "As
we've seen and heard more from John McCain's running mate, it is
increasingly clear that Palin is a problem. Quick study or not, she
doesn't know enough about economics and foreign policy to make Americans
comfortable with a President Palin should conditions warrant her
promotion." Parker later wrote: "Palin's recent interviews
with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an
attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her
League." She concluded: "Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and
the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because
she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother
who puts her family first. Do it for your country."
Numerous other conservative media figures also have
expressed concerns about Palin's readiness to be vice president. For
instance:
As the website Raw Story and
others have noted, on the September 28 edition of the NBC syndicated Chris Matthews Show, New York Times columnist David Brooks
stated:
I admire Sarah Palin for many
things. Not many of us put our careers on the line to challenge something. And
she put her career on the line to challenge the corrupt Republican Alaska
establishment. So, I give her a lot of credit for that. But is she ready to be vice
president? Based on what we've seen with the Katie Couric interview,
it's embarrassing. It's painful to watch those things. You want to
turn them off. And, so, I just think that's the fundamental fact. She is
a very talented politician who was brought to the national limelight before she
was ready, and it's just a problem.
In a September 26 column, National Review editor Rich Lowry wrote:
"Does Palin know enough to be a national candidate right now? No, but she
can be mostly walled off from the press." Earlier in the column, he said
McCain was "making moves that mark him as different, but can be seen as
risky or gimmicky, whether choosing Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential
nominee or canceling the first day of the Republican Convention during
Hurricane Gustav."
Additionally, in a September 13 post on National Review Online's The Corner
blog, Lowry said of Palin's interview with ABC News' Charles
Gibson: "[T]his was a merely adequate performance. The foreign-policy
session was a white-knuckle affair. She barely got through it and showed no
knowledge more than an inch deep." Lowry later added: "The fact
still remains that she very likely didn't know any of the possible definitions
of the Bush doctrine. I can't imagine if Obama had picked Gov. Tim Kaine [VA]
and he had had a similar moment, conservatives would have rushed to say that
the Bush doctrine is just too amorphous and complicated for him to know
anything about it. [italics in original]" Lowry added: "Palin
seemed weak on economic and budgetary policy too, talking in the vaguest
generalities. She was much better, and positively good, on the social issues --
which are dear to her and she's thought about -- and anything having to do with
her personally or with her record in Alaska."
And he concluded: "I understand how we all want to be protective of her
-- I feel the same impulse -- but let's not be patronizing. I believe the truly
pro-Palin position is to think she can, should, and will do better than
this."
In a September 13 blog posting,
titled "Sarah The Unready," Ross Douthat, conservative blogger and
senior editor at The Atlantic
stated of Palin's interview with Gibson: "[S]he seemed about an
inch deep on every issue outside her comfort zone." He further stated
that Gibson's questions "were all questions that a
vice-presidential nominee needs to be able to answer." Douthat added:
"There's no way to look at her performance as anything save supporting evidence
for the non-hysterical critique of her candidacy -- that it's just too much,
too soon -- and a splash of cold water for those of us with high hopes for her
future on the national stage."
In his September 5 Washington Post column, Charles Krauthammer
stated that
"the choice of Palin remains deeply problematic." Krauthammer later
stated: The vice president's only constitutional duty of any significance is to
become president at a moment's notice. Palin is not ready. Nor is Obama. But
with Palin, the case against Obama evaporates."
George Will stated
in a September 3 Washington Post column that
"the man who would be the oldest to embark on a first presidential term
has chosen as his possible successor a person of negligible experience."
He later wrote: "Clearly, experience is not sufficient to prove a person
'qualified' for the presidency."
In an August 29 column in the National Post, columnist and former
speechwriter for President Bush David Frum asserted that "she [Palin] has zero foreign policy experience, and no record on national security
issues." He went on to say that "Mr. McCain's supporters argue that
he is more serious about national security than Barack Obama. But the selection
of Sarah Palin invites the question: How serious can he be if he would place
such a neophyte second in line to the presidency?" He further claims that
"if anything were to happen to a President McCain, the destiny of the
free world would be placed in the hands of a woman who until the day before
Friday was a small-town mayor." Frum concluded his column by stating:
"Ms. Palin is a bold pick, and probably a shrewd one. It's not nearly so
clear that she is a responsible pick, or a wise one."
From the September 29 CBSNews.com article:
A month ago, Sally and Chuck Heath's
third child, Sarah Palin, a self-proclaimed hockey mom and wildly popular
governor of Alaska,
was thrust into the national spotlight when John McCain picked her to be his
running mate.
In the time since, Palin's readiness
to be president in the event she and McCain are elected and McCain becomes
incapacitated has been widely questioned by Democrats and many in the media.
But, in an exclusive interview at
their home in Wasilla, Alaska, the Heaths told Early
Show co-anchor Harry Smith their daughter is, indeed, ready to
occupy the Oval Office at a moment's notice.
From the September 29 edition of CBS' The Early Show:
HARRY SMITH [co-host]: You bet. Now
here's Maggie.
RODRIGUEZ: Thank you, Harry. You can
bet the vice-presidential candidates will be asked about the bailout during
their debate on Thursday. But the question a lot of Americans are asking this
morning, including some prominent Republicans, is whether Sarah Palin is ready.
Early Show national correspondent
Jeff Glor is in Columbus, Ohio. Jeff, good morning.
GLOR: Maggie, good morning to you.
This is a state -- Ohio
-- that could, once again, decide this election. It's one of the reasons
why we're here. It's one of the reasons why John McCain and Sarah Palin
will be here today as the campaign deals with these continued questions.
[begin video clip]
GLOR: Sarah Palin has mostly been
kept away from reporters, but the interviews she has done are raising eyebrows.
PALIN: It is from Alaska
that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very
powerful nation, Russia,
because they are right there.
GLOR: The most recent, with Katie
Couric, provoked widespread criticism from liberals on the Web and a lampooning
on Saturday Night Live:
TINA FEY: Katie, I'd like to
use one of my lifelines.
AMY POEHLER: You don't have any
lifelines.
FEY: Well, in that case, I'm
just gonna have to get back to you.
GLOR: But even some conservatives are
concerned, including syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker, who said Palin is
"clearly out of our league" and called for the Alaska governor to leave the race.
ALEX BURNS [Politico reporter]: I think there are a
small number of people who will publicly say that they're worried about
her abilities as a candidate. I think there's a larger number of people
who privately express kind of muted criticism and concern.
GLOR: McCain himself was asked about
the chatter on Sunday.
McCAIN: I'm so excited about
the reaction that Sarah Palin has gotten across this country -- huge turnouts,
enthusiasm, excitement. She knows how to communicate directly with people. They
respond in a way that I've seldom seen.
[end video clip]
GLOR: Palin will be interviewed
again today by Katie Couric -- which you can see on the Evening News -- and then Palin is off for
a couple of days of debate preparation in Arizona before Thursday's much
anticipated vice-presidential debate in St. Louis. Maggie.
RODRIGUEZ: CBS' Jeff Glor in Ohio. Thank you, Jeff.
Media Matters - CBS asserted "Democrats and many in the media" question "Palin's readiness to be president," but not that many questions came from conservatives {...} A CBSNews.com article asserted that "[Gov. Sarah] Palin's readiness to be president ... has been widely questioned by Democrats and many in the media." The article failed to note, however, that many of those "questioning" Palin's readiness are conservatives. In fact, CBS Early Show correspondent Jeff Glor noted, "even some conservatives are concerned, including syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker, who said Palin is 'clearly out of our league' and called for the Alaska governor to leave the race." {...} Published: October 2, 2008, 11:05 pm - Indexed: October 3, 2008, 12:04 pm - Page Size: 25KB |