Framing the issue
The first statement from the Democratic presidential campaign characterized the Governor of Alaska as too inexperienced to be Vice President (a subsequent statement was a little more measured in its tone):
Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Logic says that this line of attack on McCain/Palin has strict limits, since it calls attention to Senator Obama’s own lack of experience. But this isn’t all about logic.
As a fit and attractive middle-aged man with a pleasant demeanor and “rich baritone, the regal bearing, the excellent drape of his Burberry suits,” Senator Obama often gets the benefit of the doubt when it comes to his lack of experience. Hillary Clinton found that out the hard way, and Sarah Palin may as well. It may not be fair, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.
Hillary Clinton’s comeback began in early March when, according to the New Republic, she “channeled her inner Margaret Thatcher” and became “the scrapper, forced to the wall, and hanging in there with ferocious and grim resolution.” It was arguably at this point that she began to look credibly Presidential. Whether Sarah Palin is an asset or a liability to the McCain campaign may turn on whether she can demonstrate a toughness similar to that of Senator Clinton, or perhaps better stated, an apparent authenticity that Senator Clinton displayed in March and thereafter.
September 1st, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Does anybody really believe that Clinton could show Palin how to be tough. Will Palin cry during this campaign, or whine about sexism, or need her husband’s political support? I also doubt that Palin’s husband would even think of cheating on her. Hillary was considered tough simply because she was a woman playing in a man’s game. Palin hasn’t just played, she has succeeded in it entirely on her own and she has kicked corrupt male butt, rather than being an enabler. That’s toughness. The standard for American female politicians will never be the same.