Last night CBS showed Katie Couric asking the spectacularly unbriefed Sarah Palin about her Charlie Gibson-era claim that being able to see Russia from Alaska had something to do with foreign policy credentials. You can watch the clip below.
I can't believe that there's not a better answer than the one Palin gave here, and you'd think that she and her advisers would have mapped it out in the last two weeks. But maybe not.
Palin tries to play down the old remark:
"It's funny that a comment like that was kinda made to char... I don't know... reporters..." she starts, the train of thought breaking down at the end.
"Mocked?" helps Couric.
"Yeah, mocked. I guess that's the word, yeah."
Moving on, the most concrete example of experience-by-proximity that Palin offers is, quote, "We have trade missions back and forth..."
About that. Sasha Issenberg and Bryan Bender reported on September 4 in the Boston Globe that:
According to business leaders and academics familiar with foreign-policy issues and Palin's administration, she has demonstrated little interest in expanding the state's trade ties with Canada or Russia compared with some of her predecessors....Among her predecessors, Walter Hickel, a Republican first elected in the 1960s who returned to office in the 1990s, proposed a "Multi-Modal Transport Corridor" across the Bering Strait, which he imagined would link the Trans-Siberia Railway to American train lines. Democrat Tony Knowles, whom Palin defeated in 2006, pursued expanded trade opportunities with Taiwan during the 1990s.
Russell Howell, director of the American Russia Center in Anchorage, said that while many Alaskan oil-exploration companies have strong interest in pursuing Russian partnerships, Palin has not played a noticeable role.
Howell's organization has helped facilitate contact between Russia and Alaskan business and government leaders during past gubernatorial administrations.
"I have not heard that Governor Palin has done anything like that and we have had no contact with her about visiting Russian officials," said Howell.
Couric doesn't follow up in the clip below ("Have you participated in the trade missions? What have they accomplished?"). But the Globe's reporting suggests the answer.
Unbriefed is too kind! Palin has absolutely no knowledge of foreign policy. She didn't even know what the Bush doctrine is and yet she could be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. It is time for America to wake up! We need intelligent people in the White House - not people who have to be briefed on matters they should know well! We cannot afford to end up with an out of touch politician who cannot even send an e-mail and his brainless sidekick in the White House. GOD HELP AMERICA if that happens. Vote for integrity andintelligence - Vote for OBAMA/BIDEN
I would love to see someone from the media ask Obama if he recieved $50 million from the National Eduacation Asscociation. How smooth could he be in his answer, especially if we had just viewed a clip of him telling the nation that he won't accept lobby money. No, but he'll accept that huge amount from an association that doesn't want parents to choose their children's school. The NEA now endorses Obama because he thinks parents should't have vouchers for school. Doesn't he send his girls to a private school? Isn't his like saying only WEALTHY families can decide where their kids go to school-? Let him answer that one without squirming and getting tongue-tied just like Palin. The biased news media are no longer dependable for news other than warnings of natural disasters and weather predictions.
I can't believe that there's not a better answer than the one Palin gave here
Isn't that the stock response to anything she says as of late?
I have been aghast at Sarah Palin's nomination but her inverview with Katie Couric elicited some sympathy from me. Ms. Palin is so clearly over her head for the responsibilities of Vice President that she has demonstrably lost any of the gutsy self-confidence she started with. McCain should acknowledge a serious mistake has been made and replace her with someone the American public can respect.
Personally I think that Mrs. Palin is in over her head and now is afraid to say so. She will be a heartbeat away from being the President and she certainly doesn't seem to understand or care about the lowr to middle class.
I adopted a handicapped baby and know how much time they require plus I had just one other child. I know women feel they can be superwoman now but she has other children and responsibilties to take up a lot of her time. Who believes you can do it all without some help? When do we wakeup from this nightmare?
Ginger
I can't believe how unprpared Ms.
Palin appears on t.v.when interviewed.
She appears to be unprepared to do so much and yet says she can.
It has started blowup in the Republicans face. Please who is going to hold her hand if God forbid she became President should Mccain die?
Anna
I don't like Sarah Palin as a vice-presidential candidate--for many reasons--but the biggest is that from her comments and actions during these Curic, Gibson, and other media interviews, she's obviously got too much catching up on facts, history, background, etc to do, fast, than she can handle. McCain's had several bouts with malignant melanoma--which is a nasty killer for many--if Palin had to step in as President, my guess is that she'd have to rely on the advisors from the Bush years to give advice and background her.
I don't think she has the intellectual smarts to absorb all she needs to know to be equal to the challenge of running the country if she had to.