A Heartbeat Away from the Presidency

Since Sarah Palin was picked to be Vice President, the Democrats have asked American are we comfortable with her a heartbeat away from the Presidency. The Democrats question and mock her lack of experience. The pundits question and mock her lack of experience and knowledge on foreign policy issues. Democrats proclaim that they are hungry for the VP debate on October 2nd.

The way I see it is that it isn't merely a matter of experience but accomplishments. I look at all political qualifications the way I see any resume. Over the last ten years plus, employers have looked for potential employees to fill resumes with a list of prior accomplishments not prior duties. Since Governor Palin is running for VP, we, the American people, are the employer. So, let's look at her accomplishments.

After serving two terms on the Wasilla city council, she ran for mayor of Wasilla under the platform of cutting property taxes by cutting wasteful government. In her first term, she accomplished that and property taxes were cut roughly 40%.

After successfully being a mayor of Wasilla for two terms, she ran for Lt. Governor. While she lost that race in 2002, she gained enough recognition to be selected to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. While on that commission, she discovered corruption and conflict by her colleague on the commission and fellow Republican Randy Ruedrich. Palin discovered that Ruedrich was using the people's time for campaigning. The rest of the commission as well as the entire Republican party apparatus wanted this corruption swept under the rug. Palin refused. She quit the commission and went public with her findings and joined the distinguished list of heroic fraternity of whistleblowers. Her crusade beared fruit and eventually Ruedrich resigned the Commission and paid a record fine of $12,000. Her crusade was not without sacrifice since the Alaska Republican Party, which Ruedrich still chairs, refused to provide funds for any of her future campaigns, including her run for Governor. It also goes without saying that Palin and Ruedrich are NOT on speaking terms to this day. Furthermore, after going after REPUBLICAN Ruedrich, she went after REPUBLICAN Attorney General Greg Renkes, who pushed through a business deal that he had ties to.

In 2006, she ran for Governor first in the primaries against incumbent Frank Murkowski, and then in the general election against former Governor Tony Knowles. She immediately passed sweeping ethics reform in May of 2007. She came out and publicly challenged long standing U.S. Senator Ted Stevens to come clean on his own corruption.

She took on the oil companies. She raised taxes on the oil companies and then helped pass a major oil pipeline. This pipeline runs from the North Slope through Canada. She currently has unheard of approval ratings that by some estimates reach 80% of Alaskans.

So, how is that for accomplishments? I think if you were looking at that resume you would feel you were examining a very qualified individual. More than that, let's compare her list of accomplishments, running for VP, to the list of accomplishments of the Presidential candidate on the other side.

In 1997, Barack Obama was elected to the State Senate in Illinois. Prior to that he had an obscure and unclear career as a community organizer. In that role, he lobbied government for money for local public works. Its unclear what he did with any of that money and what that money accomplished in the community. The role of State Senator is actually a part time job. He was a rather unaccomplished State Senator. His biggest claim to fame is his plethora of so called present votes. He did it 130 times while in the State Senate. Voting present means you don't take a position on said issue, and so Obama did this 130 times in his eight years in the State Senate. He has no signature bills with his name on it. He never mentions any specific bills that he is proud of. Instead, he speaks of vague generalities about helping folks get stuff. In fact, the only bill that he is associated with is the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which would have provided protection to infants born after a botched abortion. Barack Obama aggressively countered this bill and it never passed the Illinois legislature while he was there. It only passed the very year he left. Furthermore, while in the State Senate, Barack Obama became a protege of Emil Jones who's name became synonymous with corruption. Jones is currently in the process of retiring and attempting to install his son in his State Senate seat.

Since being a state senator is a part time job, most folks maintain other employment while a state senator. Often times, their other work holds great accomplishment. For Barack Obama, he had two employment opportunities of significance, the Annenberg Challenge and the Woods Foundation. Obama rarely speaks about his time at either foundation and never mentions one accomplishment. The Annenber Challenge was supposed to deal with education issues. Had the foundation helped schools perform more efficiently, raise test scores, or attract better teachers, you'd bet Obama would be touting his time there. In fact, his time at both is shrouded in mystery and that's because both organizations are associated with former terrorist and lifelong radical Bill Ayers.

Since 2005, Obama has been in the U.S. Senate. Here again he has no signature piece of legislation. He chaired the committee on NATO and held exactly ZERO committee hearings. He has attempted to take ownership of the issue of Afghanistan, and yet despite NATO's leadership there, held no hearings on that matter. In fact, Obama's greatest accomplishment as a U.S. Senator is running for President.

There you go there is a comprehensive comparison of the prior accomplishments of both Barack Obama and Sarah Palin. Given the glaring difference in both their resumes, the real question is not whether we are comfortable with Palin a heart beat away from the Presidency, but whether we are comfortable with Barack Obama as the President. Based on his resume, that answer is a resounding no.