When it comes down to it Sarah Palin is the most experienced candidate running for President or Vice President.
If you look at Biden's and McCain's past experience it is completely rooted in the legislative branch of government. Never did they serve in an executive manner. The same holds true for Obama. Before becoming a US Senator he served in the Illinois legislature. Before Sarah Palin became Governor in 2006 she had served as mayor of a small town since 1996. That's over ten years executive experience.
Some will try to argue that she was mayor of a small town, and even now is governor of a state of fewer than 1 million people. Well, when Clinton was elected in 1992 he was governor of Arkansas which is presently just under 3 million people and he seemed to do alright.
Before coming in to office, every President since Kennedy has had SOME executive experience.
Bush Jr - Governor of Texas
Clinton - Governor of Arkansas
Bush Sr - Vice President for Reagen
Reagen - Governor of California
Carter - Governor of Georgia
Ford - Vice President for Nixon
Nixon - Vice President for Eisenhower
Johnson - Vice President for Kennedy
Not since the 1960 Kennedy/Johnson ticket has America chosen to elect two legislators to the oval office with no combined executive experience.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Sarah Palin is McCain's presumed VP
I haven't researched her yet, but I like what little I have heard and read. Here's my very early top 5 reasons why I think this is a great choice.
1. Executive Experience
I was really hoping McCain would pick a governor as a running mate. If you look at previous Presidential elections the person with executive experience wins. Carter - governor of Georgia, Reagan - governor of California, Bush Sr. - Vice President, Clinton - governor of Arkansas, Bush Jr. - governor of Texas. I was surprise that Obama would choose a Senator as his running mate, I'm glad McCain picked someone with some executive experience.
2. Outside the beltway
She doesn't have the taint of being a life-long DC politician like McCain and Biden. Also, her political career didn't start in Chicago, one of the most politically corrupt cities in America. Unfortunately Alaska's political image has been somewhat tarnished recently no thanks to Ted Stevens and Don Young.
3. Lives out Pro-life values
She lives out her pro-life values. When she discovered that she was pregnant with a down syndrome baby she could have chosen to have an abortion like 91 to 93% of people choose to do. Instead she believed in her convictions that the unborn baby had a RIGHT to life.
4. Gender equality
If Hillary Clinton put 18 million cracks in that glass ceiling, Sarah Palin's going to bust through it.
5. She's no Dick Cheney
Biden has already been declared the NEW Dick Cheney by some in the media. I guarantee you that Palin could never be viewed as such. Obama had to choose someone with more experience and proven leadership than himself to give his ticket credence, likewise McCain was able to choose an outsider with new ideas to complement him. It makes sense that the bottom half of the Presidential ticket be the one with less experience and more idealism doesn't it?
These are just my first impressions, but so far they are very positive. Can I vote for the McCain ticket? I still don't think so, but so far I could easily cast a vote in good conscious for Sarah Palin.
Update 8/28/2008 9:28am - It's official. McCain just declared Sarah Palin as his running mate.
1. Executive Experience
I was really hoping McCain would pick a governor as a running mate. If you look at previous Presidential elections the person with executive experience wins. Carter - governor of Georgia, Reagan - governor of California, Bush Sr. - Vice President, Clinton - governor of Arkansas, Bush Jr. - governor of Texas. I was surprise that Obama would choose a Senator as his running mate, I'm glad McCain picked someone with some executive experience.
2. Outside the beltway
She doesn't have the taint of being a life-long DC politician like McCain and Biden. Also, her political career didn't start in Chicago, one of the most politically corrupt cities in America. Unfortunately Alaska's political image has been somewhat tarnished recently no thanks to Ted Stevens and Don Young.
3. Lives out Pro-life values
She lives out her pro-life values. When she discovered that she was pregnant with a down syndrome baby she could have chosen to have an abortion like 91 to 93% of people choose to do. Instead she believed in her convictions that the unborn baby had a RIGHT to life.
4. Gender equality
If Hillary Clinton put 18 million cracks in that glass ceiling, Sarah Palin's going to bust through it.
5. She's no Dick Cheney
Biden has already been declared the NEW Dick Cheney by some in the media. I guarantee you that Palin could never be viewed as such. Obama had to choose someone with more experience and proven leadership than himself to give his ticket credence, likewise McCain was able to choose an outsider with new ideas to complement him. It makes sense that the bottom half of the Presidential ticket be the one with less experience and more idealism doesn't it?
These are just my first impressions, but so far they are very positive. Can I vote for the McCain ticket? I still don't think so, but so far I could easily cast a vote in good conscious for Sarah Palin.
Update 8/28/2008 9:28am - It's official. McCain just declared Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Biden the internationalist
The very first article I read after learning Obama picked Biden for VP and I come across this gut punch of a statement.
This is just great, I thought Obama, Mr. Citizen of the World, was the internationalist. This does not boad well for theisolationists non-interventionists out there.
People need to understand that both internationalists like Obama and Biden as well as unilateralist like Bush and McCain will continue involving our nations in foreign occupations and interventions. These are neither helpful for the occupied country (in the long run) nor something that our broke and indebted nation can continue to afford to take part in.
Our military was meant for one thing and that was to be the collective defense of the States.
An internationalist and strong supporter of the United Nations, he is a leading critic of what he sees as the vague, unilateralist approach of President Bush.
This is just great, I thought Obama, Mr. Citizen of the World, was the internationalist. This does not boad well for the
People need to understand that both internationalists like Obama and Biden as well as unilateralist like Bush and McCain will continue involving our nations in foreign occupations and interventions. These are neither helpful for the occupied country (in the long run) nor something that our broke and indebted nation can continue to afford to take part in.
Our military was meant for one thing and that was to be the collective defense of the States.
Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none. -- Thomas Jefferson
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Ronvoy saves Rally for the Republic
I'm a supporter, but even I had my concerns that Ron Paul's Rally for the Republic event wouldn't be able to fill up the 12,000 seat Target Center in Minneapolis. The event is going to have some amazing speakers and performers as well as be the spring board for Ron Paul's new organization, the Campaign for Liberty. My concern was that it seemed like a logistical nightmare for supporters who wanted to attend. A supporter interested in going would need to work out accommodations, travel, transportation and meals. This is made even more difficult by the fact that the Republican National Convention is going on at the same time in nearby St Paul. I looked in to it ever so briefly before reluctantly dismissing the idea of going.
I had hoped the organizers would setup remote sites across the country with live video feeds so that it would be easier for more people to get in on the convention. It looks like the organizers of the Rally for the Republic were thinking about the logistical difficulties and came up with a different solution ... the Ronvoy.
For those of us in the pacific northwest you can jump on the Seattle Line, kick back and relax. Hurry now, because the Ronvoy packages are only available until August 22nd, and I'm betting the limited number of tickets sell out before then.
Not only does it solve the travel problem, but also includes accommodation, meals, and transportation and all for 320 bucks, that's quite a bit less than half an American Gold Eagle for those of you who don't deal in fiat currency.
I had hoped the organizers would setup remote sites across the country with live video feeds so that it would be easier for more people to get in on the convention. It looks like the organizers of the Rally for the Republic were thinking about the logistical difficulties and came up with a different solution ... the Ronvoy.
For those of us in the pacific northwest you can jump on the Seattle Line, kick back and relax. Hurry now, because the Ronvoy packages are only available until August 22nd, and I'm betting the limited number of tickets sell out before then.
Not only does it solve the travel problem, but also includes accommodation, meals, and transportation and all for 320 bucks, that's quite a bit less than half an American Gold Eagle for those of you who don't deal in fiat currency.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Anonymous comments now allowed
Blogger seems like a decent tool for hosting a free blog, but it does have a couple of downsides.
1. There doesn't seem to be a way to monitor page views or traffic information.
2. The settings are sometimes hard to find.
I thought I had comments open to all, but it turned out posting comments required a Google account or an OpenID account (whatever that is). Anonymous comments are now enabled so hopefully there will be more lively discussion.
1. There doesn't seem to be a way to monitor page views or traffic information.
2. The settings are sometimes hard to find.
I thought I had comments open to all, but it turned out posting comments required a Google account or an OpenID account (whatever that is). Anonymous comments are now enabled so hopefully there will be more lively discussion.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
A meaningful thank you
I must admit I'm new to the whole campaign contribution thing. I gave pretty generously to the Ron Paul campaign, and made very minor contributions to Dino Rossi, Doug Erickson, and Steve Van Luven.
I'm sure Dino and Doug are thankful for my meager contributions, but only Steve sent me a hand written thank you note! A meaningful note at that. The envelope was hand addressed as well.
Let me also say it was an honor to vote for you in the primary Steve, and I'm sure you'll make an awesome State Senator.
The letter reads:
Dear [redacted],
Thank you very much for your contribution to my campaign. It is greatly appreciated and will be used wisely.
Steve
I'm sure Dino and Doug are thankful for my meager contributions, but only Steve sent me a hand written thank you note! A meaningful note at that. The envelope was hand addressed as well.
Let me also say it was an honor to vote for you in the primary Steve, and I'm sure you'll make an awesome State Senator.
The letter reads:
Dear [redacted],
Thank you very much for your contribution to my campaign. It is greatly appreciated and will be used wisely.
Steve
Whats wrong with our public education system
As I was dutifully reading through the voter guide making my selections for various public offices I had to sit up and take note of a specific candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate statement. First it made me laugh, but then after thinking about it for a moment I wanted to cry.
The thing that made me cry was the fact that this guy had taught students in Seattle for 16 years. I wonder if his personal political sentiments were reflected in his teaching? If he wants to emulate Hugo Chavez then I'm sure it was.
Back in March Clark Howard went on a rant about California's decision to criminalize home schooling. In my book California decided to make a "Hugo Chavez" inspired decision. I strongly encourage everyone to download and listen to Clark's ideas for education in this country. The podcast is available free, and it's 11 minutes EXTREMELY well spent. He starts talking on the subject at 50 seconds in to the podcast. I'm trying to decide on a public Superintendent that would model Clark Howard's ideas rather than Hugo Chavez. So far I'm leaning towards John Patterson Blair. He has some interesting ideas on how we could do education differently in this state. He probably wouldn't be successful in implementing his plan, but having someone with his ideas as superintendent would be helpful I believe.
You can see this information for yourself in your WA state voter guide or by going to the online version and then drilling in the left hand tree view under State Executive, Washington State, Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Candidate Statement
Viva Chavez! No, I haven’t lost my mind - just my profession (teaching) and students.* Disgusted by voter apathy, I’m trying to tap into the energy generated by Venezuela’s president. Hugo Chavez has some good ideas, too - like holding corrupt corporations accountable and nationalizing strategic industries. In fact, public education’s biggest problem is corporate corruption, the de facto privatization of our schools. Yet the media have once again turned this race into a forum on the WASL - which I’ve fought for over a decade. So why do the media ignore and even lie about me? This race has also been dominated by corrupt teachers unions, another scourge I’ve been attacking for over a decade. This isn’t a tea party, folks. We’re at war with our own government, with Corporate America, and we’re getting our butts kicked, liberals, conservatives and independents alike. Well, I’m not afraid to fight. I’m even attacking Bill Gates, right in his home town. I don’t respect software terrorists who exploit children.
The thing that made me cry was the fact that this guy had taught students in Seattle for 16 years. I wonder if his personal political sentiments were reflected in his teaching? If he wants to emulate Hugo Chavez then I'm sure it was.
Back in March Clark Howard went on a rant about California's decision to criminalize home schooling. In my book California decided to make a "Hugo Chavez" inspired decision. I strongly encourage everyone to download and listen to Clark's ideas for education in this country. The podcast is available free, and it's 11 minutes EXTREMELY well spent. He starts talking on the subject at 50 seconds in to the podcast. I'm trying to decide on a public Superintendent that would model Clark Howard's ideas rather than Hugo Chavez. So far I'm leaning towards John Patterson Blair. He has some interesting ideas on how we could do education differently in this state. He probably wouldn't be successful in implementing his plan, but having someone with his ideas as superintendent would be helpful I believe.
You can see this information for yourself in your WA state voter guide or by going to the online version and then drilling in the left hand tree view under State Executive, Washington State, Superintendent of Public Instruction.
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