Gender does not trump experience
September 8, 2008 - 11:59 am by Jyareo
I’ve heard a lot, ever since Sarah Palin was picked by McCain as his choice for VP, from McCain campaign surrogates about how her experience is superior to Obama’s and how she is better prepared to lead. I’ve heard ridiculous arguments about how since Alaska is close to Russia, that proximity gives her foreign policy experience (Cindy McCain), or that since she beat the incumbent governor, that she’s an “agent of change”. The favorite term to describe her superiority over Obama by these people seems to be: “executive experience”. That somehow, her experience as a Mayor of a town of around 6,000 (2000 census), and her 2 years as the governor of Alaska, makes her more competent to lead the free world. Ridiculous as these arguments are, I’ve been willing to let them slide–that is until Sarah Palin herself had the audacity to imply she was better prepared to be president then Obama in her RNC speech last week.
Ok, now the gloves come off.
Let’s do a fair comparison of both candidates on their backgrounds and forget gender/ethnicity.
Education:
Candidate #1:
Graduated from Harvard Law School; served as president of Harvard Law Review twice supervising 80 editors
Candidate #2:
Bachelors in Journalism and Minor in Political Science from the University of Idaho
Work Experience:
Candidate #1:
Before graduating: Director of a community organization in south Chicago called the Developing Communities Project for 3 years. Worked for the Business International Corporation and then at the New York Public Interest Research Group for a year.
After graduating: Civil Rights attorney; Law professor at the University of Chicago for 12 years; founding member of Public Allies’ board of directors.
Candidate #2:
Before graduating: Won the Miss Wasilla Pageant (playing the flute), then finished second in the Miss Alaska pageant.
After graduating: Sports reporter and assisted with a commercial fishing business; also had a 20% ownership in an Anchorage car wash business.
Political Experience:
Candidate #1: Was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996 and re-elected twice more. Served as co-chairman of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. In 2000, lost a Democratic primary run for the U.S. House of Representatives. In January 2003, became chairman of the Illinois Senate’s Health and Human Services Committee. In 2004, was elected to the Senate.
Candidate #2:
Served two 3 year terms on the Wasilla city council, and served 2 terms as Mayor of that city and was elected president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors. In 2002, made an unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor. Was appointed by Governor Murkowski to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and chaired the Commission from 2003 to 2004. Also served as Ethics Supervisor.
Governor of Alaska for almost 2 years.
Political Accomplishments and Notables:
Candidate #1:
As a state legislator, gained bipartisan support for legislation reforming ethics and health care laws. Sponsored a law increasing tax credits for low-income workers, negotiated welfare reform, and promoted increased subsidies for childcare. Supported Republican Governor Ryan’s payday loan regulations and predatory mortgage lending regulations aimed at averting home foreclosures, and in 2003, sponsored and led unanimous, bipartisan passage of legislation to monitor racial profiling by requiring police to record the race of drivers they detained and legislation making Illinois the first state to mandate videotaping of homicide interrogations. During his 2004 general election campaign for U.S. Senate, was credited by police representatives for active engagement with police organizations in enacting death penalty reforms. Voted in favor of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and cosponsored the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act. In September 2006, supported a related bill, the Secure Fence Act. Introduced two initiatives bearing his name which expanded the Nunn–Lugar cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons, and the “Transparency Act,” which authorized the establishment of www.USAspending.gov, a web search engine. Sponsored legislation requiring nuclear plant owners to notify state and local authorities of radioactive leaks. In December 2006, President Bush signed into law the “Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act,” marking the first federal legislation to be enacted with this candidate as its primary sponsor. In January 2007, co-sponsored the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which was signed into law in September 2007. He introduced S. 453, a bill to criminalize deceptive practices in federal elections. Also introduced the Iraq War De-Escalation Act of 2007.Later in 2007, sponsored an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act adding safeguards for personality disorder military discharges. Sponsored the “Iran Sanctions Enabling Act” supporting divestment of state pension funds from Iran’s oil and gas industry, and co-sponsored legislation to reduce risks of nuclear terrorism. Also sponsored a Senate amendment to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program providing one year of job protection for family members caring for soldiers with combat-related injuries. Held assignments on the Senate Committees for Foreign Relations, Environment and Public Works and Veterans’ Affairs through December 2006.In January 2007, he left the Environment and Public Works committee and took additional assignments with Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Also became Chairman of the Senate’s subcommittee on European Affairs. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, this candidate has made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.
Candidate #2:
Helped pass a tax increase on oil company profits. Created a new sub-cabinet group of advisers to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions within Alaska. In March 2007, presented the Alaska Gasoline Inducement Act (AGIA) as the new legal vehicle for building a natural gas pipeline from the state’s North Slope and she signed a bill into law giving the state of Alaska authority to award TransCanada Pipelines $500 million in seed money and a license to build a $26-billion pipeline to transport natural gas through Canada. Canceled a contract for the construction of an 11-mile gravel road outside Juneau to a mine. Sold the Westwind II jet purchased (on a state government credit account) by the Murkowski administration to a private buyer. Hired a Washington lobbyist and won $27 million in earmarks for Wasilla. Then worked to get big federal money for the state. Strong supporter to build the $223 million “Bridge to Nowhere” (which actually involved two bridges), then when the national media spotlight hit it, helped cancel it.
And, the winner is…
Ok, the results are clear: you’d have to have a death wish for America to pick candidate 2 over candidate 1 since the experience/qualifications gap is huge. Now let me add one more layer unto this. Candidate 1 is African American, has a foreign sounding name (Barack Obama), and had a father from Kenya who was Muslim (but left him at a very early age). Now candidate #2 is a woman, who is not only beautiful, but loves to hunt. Oh, well now that changes EVERYTHING doesn’t it? Clearly Palin’s anatomy makes up that gap in experience/qualifications to lead the free world. Never mind that Barack Obama has been vetted by over 40 million Americans, that we know who he is, what he stands for, and has been in the public spotlight for almost 4 years now. No, clearly Palin’s “executive experience” trumps all this. This is not a sexist viewpoint either, Hillary Clinton is very much vetted and capable of running this country from day one, agree with her politics or not.
This is bullshit at its worst. To think that John McCain would make such a blatantly irresponsible and arrogant choice for VP is stunning to me. He is very old, and it is a very real possibility that he may die or become incapacitated. If that happens, he picked a beauty queen with a few years of “executive experience” to lead the free world? Is this a sample of his judgment should he become president? Let us be clear. This was NOT a choice with America’s best interests in mind, this was a choice with John McCain’s best interests in mind. There were many other candidates much better qualified for him to pick from.
That man, the Republican Party, and anyone that cries fowl at the media’s equal scrutiny of Palin as “sexism” are only promoting it by denying Palin the same treatment that any other man would receive. And no, merging church and state, banning a woman’s right to choose, restricting the rights of minority people to marry as they see fit, and bombing the shit out of everything that moves are NOT American values. What the hell happened to the McCain of 2000? The one that actually used common sense and put America first? Oh, he got “smart” and realized the only way you can win in the Republican Party is to play dirty and put yourself first over your country.
God help America should that man win.
