Going against the best advice I could give, John McCain placed a political neophyte, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, as his candidate for the office of Vice President of the United States.

I heard those words in my long-past youth: “It’s America, where anyone can grow up to be President!” Or Vice President. Of course, the other expectation was that we had the opportunity learn, grow and mature to the point where we might be qualified to hold high office in government. So, many asked whether a person who served as the mayor of a suburb of 8,000 souls and has been governor of a state for some 20 months has the background in national and international affairs to step into the Oval Office if, God forbid, that becomes necessary.

Let’s Find A Precedent

The same was asked of Harry Truman, you might remember. Truman had years of experience in the US Senate, representing Missouri due to the backing of the Pendergast machine. Truman held no college degree; he hadn’t served as anything other than a county judge (actually, a county manager in the scheme of things, for the three “judges” managed county business and did not adjudicate law). He one full term as US Senator and most of his second term before the Democratic Party tagged him to run as Vice President with Franklin D. Roosevelt on Roosevelt’s fourth, and final, Presidential campaign.

Ready For Prime-Time?

Harry Truman was not above making rough, uncouth, and impolitic off-the-cuff remarks to the press and others. A few of these were:

• A bureaucrat is a Democrat who holds some office that a Republican wants.
• If we see that Germany is winning we ought to help Russia and if Russia is winning we ought to help Germany, and that way let them kill as many as possible, although I don’t want to see Hitler victorious under any circumstances. Neither of them thinks anything of their pledged word.
• A politician is a man who understands government and it takes a politician to run a government. A statesman is a politician who's been dead ten or fifteen years.
• If I hadn't been President of the United States, I probably would have ended up a piano player in a bawdy house.
• I've said many a time that I think the Un-American Activities Committee in the House of Representatives was the most un-American thing in America!

My mother, born in 1920, still speaks of how she didn’t like Truman because he was too “rough;” that he didn’t have the polish to be President. She also says that Truman did well by the nation and was a very good President. So, using the Mom Principle, we know that one need not hold a PhD in international affairs or be a visiting scholar at the Wilson Institute to hold office.

Behind Door Number…

Certainly the Governor of Alaska fits with that standard. She roused the Republican “base” with her speech to them at the party’s convention last month. She spoke to them, to their values, and to their political aspirations. She also interjected just enough humor and satire, or sarcasm, while maintaining a strong TV demeanor. Okay, she knows how to use a teleprompter, too.

Those who apparently make up the party base are not happy that Republicans in the various states voted for John S. McCain; these people weren’t motivated to actively support McCain because…well, he seemed to have a mind of his own. That’s not something ideologues like in a candidate, no matter the party.

What Hath McCain Wrought?

Anyway, Governor Palin has not come across extremely well with her public speaking recently. Witness Jack Cafferty’s scathing commentary on  her recent interview by Katie Couric.

Whew! And, that’s not all:

• “As for that VP talk all the time, I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?” (Interview with CNBC’s “Kudlow & Co,” July 2008)
• “As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where—where do they go? It’s Alaska. It's just right over the border.”
• “Perhaps so.” (Gov. Palin’s answer when asked if the US may need to go to war with Russia because of the Georgia crisis, ABC News interview, Sept. 11, 2008)
• “Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities.”

What To Do; What To Do

I don’t know about you, but I expect someone who aspires to national office—executive office—to be able to think on her or his feet.

I expect those people to have read something about some places and history.

I expect them to be able to answer questions, particularly when they aren’t caught up in the hurly-burly of a press conference.

I expect a governor to understand that there is a huge difference between the responsibilities of this nation’s Commander in Chief and being the chief commander of the state National Guard. (For that matter, I expect a governor to understand that there is a difference between National Guard and Reserve units, and that the gubernatorial incumbent does not “command” the Reserve components in the state.)

I don’t look forward to, or pray for, the Governor to “lose” (whatever that means) her debate with Senator Joe Biden. I think that:

• Republican idealogues will loudly claim victory for her, regardless of her she performance
• Democratic ideologues will loudly proclaim her defeat under any circumstances

I expect all idealogues to inform us of how we must view the debate and its results.

I will be greatly disappointed if Biden displays a similar lack of knowledge or understanding of national and international events and interests.

I don’t expect all, or most, candidates for office to be polished speakers. I’ve listened to speeches by Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II. Heck, I’ve listened to recordings of Theodore and of Franklin Roosevelt. The office of President of the United States does not require exceptional speaking ability. It does, however, require fundamental knowledge and skill, as do all positions. It requires someone to possess a keen mind and critical thinking.

Platitudes are for the press; our office holders have to make hard decisions based on facts with an evaluation of national interests and potential consequences.

Anyway, that’s my take on it.