Palin ready? Eagleburger says, 'Of course not.'
Lawrence Eagleburger, seen here in his official State Department portrait from 1992, served in the Nixon, Carter, Reagan, and Bush administrations before retiring to Charlottesville.PHOTO COURTESY THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Yesterday, former Secretary of State to George H.W. Bush and Charlottesville resident Lawrence Eagleburger joined an increasingly long list of conservatives who are critical of Republican vice presidential candidate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's credentials to ascend to the presidency.
Asked yeseterday on NPR's Talk of the Nation whether Palin was ready to handle a crisis as president, Eagleburger responded, "That's a very good question," pausing briefly and then continuing, "I'm being facetious here. Look, of course not. I don't think at the moment she's prepared to take over the reins of the presidency."
Eagleburger was guardedly optimistic that Palin could learn the ways of the office as vice president.
"The question is, 'Can she learn, and would she be tough enough under the circumstances if she were asked to become president, heaven forbid that that ever takes place?'" said Eagleburger. "Give her some time in the office, and I think the answer is that she would be adequate. I can't say that she would be a genius in the job, but I think she would be enough to get us through a four-year–- I hope not–- get us through whatever period of time was necessary, and I devoutly hope that it would never be tested."
Asked to respond to Eagleburger's assessment, McCain told ABC this morning that he's not troubled by it and that, "Larry hasn't had a chance to meet Sarah."
Eagleburger, who has endorsed McCain, has expressed similar reservations about McCain's opponent, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). Just eleven days ago on Fox News' The Live Desk, Eagleburger said about the prospect of an Obama presidency, "I’m scared of it. I really am. I’m frightened by it. And partly because he doesn’t know international affairs," adding that, "I would far rather have Sen. McCain, who I know, knows foreign affairs, and knows where he’s going. I think Obama is going to be a real problem until he gets his feet on the ground, and that’s going to take some time."
27 comments
Sick of the Local Rambos, Music Lover, where are you guys on this??
Palin is more required then any of the others. She is a Governor which the others are not. Plus she has done a great job at it!
Think about it!
A Republican talking head is "frightened" of the prospect of an Obama presidency. Wow - stop the presses on that one! Everybody mark the "fear" square on your McCain-Palin Talking Points Bingo cards! But he's not "frightened" by the prospect of Sarah Palin - who knows less about foreign affairs than, well, everybody else - taking over if/when McCain is no longer able to carry out the duties because, hopefully, by then she'll be "adequate?"
Was there some kind of super secret Democratic plot at the GOP convention to introduce a new intelligence-and-rationality--sucking drug into the water or something?
The conservatives, especially the older ones, are just freaking out because they see then end is near, and they weren't able to accomplish all of their goals. Supreme Court not irrevocably stacked with Neanderthals, abortion still legal, some regulations still in place (though W is working on that one), and there's still an income tax. It's gotta be tough seeing this happen, and knowing that it could be another generation before they get another bite at the apple.
McCain has run what is -by a country mile - the most ineffective, disorganized, and directionless presidential campaign anybody can remember. He totally blew his choice of VP. His message changes daily, and now it's really come down to "be afraid, be very afraid because Obama has Socialist tendencies!" Seriously - is there one person out there who can honestly say that McCain has run a good campaign, much less a great one?
If you have the experience he has and are still losing the race, and you're dragging the down-ticket races with you, you are proving yourself incapable of being an effective president. If you can't run a campaign, how can you be trusted to run the country?
I would not say, "His message changes daily." Since the last debate, he's become hung up on the Joe-the-Plumber, redistribute-the-wealth stuff, and it seems to be pretty effective. The polls are showing the numbers are closing. It's very concerning.
I'm afraid it's Obama down the stretch who is having problems finding the message the resonates with the people. I personally like the way he's running his campaign, declining to crawl into the mud and making an affirmative case for himself. But is it working?
I personally think Oil Money has bought the United States President and Mccain is intentionally trying to lose and I think Joe Bidden really doesn't want to win so he to is trying to make his candidate lose. I mean really the whole coverage is onesided and why was not a younger able bodied candidate choose, Really even Huckabee would have had a better chance, at least he got on Fox news regular, Mccain is like I want to talk on a porch to 20 people, but what it don't realize is he america is a stage of millions and he is just a side show to the big shin digs Barrack Obama is putting on. Hey promise them the world and offer to give them another stimulus they will vote for you.
Palin isn't qualified, but one of the Presidents he worked for, Carter, was? A naive fool who was made to look like an idiot by the Iranians and Fidel Castro. Remember the Mariel Boatlift when Castro was able to ship thousands of criminals and mentally insane to the U.S. before Carter had realized he had been suckered? I wonder how Eagleton felt about Carter's qualifications?
Palin/Allen 2012.
My friends, you and me are just like Joe the Macaca. Struggling, trying to own a house and a business. Joe doesn't want to live in fear of making more than a quarter of a million dollars every year. The poor macaca just wants to make a mere 3 billion. Should he really be taxed on that? No. He is a maverick and just wants to keep bread on his table, his wife pregnant, and the IRS on his back.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r90z0PMnKwI
Last thing I want is a merely "adequate", cackling youbetcha wench running the country next to mine with her finger perched steadilly over The Button.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3049/2989102689_c3751f1ee4.jpg
:)
Mr/Mrs comment reader, I usually refuse to particpate in political debates. All I can say is Obama supporters are going to be disappointed if he gets elected. And so are MCCain suppoters if he gets elected. Here's the latest on Obama though...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections...
Barack Obama’s senior advisers have drawn up plans to lower expectations for his presidency if he wins next week’s election, amid concerns that many of his euphoric supporters are harbouring unrealistic hopes of what he can achieve.
The sudden financial crisis and the prospect of a deep and painful recession have increased the urgency inside the Obama team to bring people down to earth, after a campaign in which his soaring rhetoric and promises of ââ?¬Å?hope” and ââ?¬Å?change” are now confronted with the reality of a stricken economy.
One senior adviser told The Times that the first few weeks of the transition, immediately after the election, were critical, ââ?¬Å?so there’s not a vast mood swing from exhilaration and euphoria to despair”.
The aide said that Mr Obama himself was the first to realise that expectations risked being inflated.
In an interview with a Colorado radio station, Mr Obama appeared to be engaged already in expectation lowering. Asked about his goals for the first hundred days, he said he would need more time to tackle such big and costly issues as health care reform, global warming and Iraq. ââ?¬Å?The first hundred days is going to be important, but it’s probably going to be the first thousand days that makes the difference,” he said. He has also been reminding crowds in recent days how ââ?¬Å?hard” it will be to achieve his goals, and that it will take time.
ââ?¬Å?I won’t stand here and pretend that any of this will be easy ââ?¬â?? especially now,” Mr Obama told a rally in Sarasota, Florida, yesterday, citing ââ?¬Å?the cost of this economic crisis, and the cost of the war in Iraq”. Mr Obama’s transition team is headed by John Podesta, a Washington veteran and a former chief-of-staff to Bill Clinton. He has spent months overseeing a virtual Democratic government-in-exile to plan a smooth transition should Mr Obama emerge victorious next week. The plans are so far advanced that an Obama Cabinet has been largely decided upon, with the expectation that most of his senior appointments could be announced shortly after election day.
Yet Mr Obama and his aides are under no illusions about the size of the challenges the Democrat will inherit if he enters the Oval Office. Tom Daschle, the party’s former leader in the US Senate and a strong contender for the post of White House chief-of-staff in an Obama administration, said last month that the winner next week would have only a 50 per cent chance of winning a second term in 2012.
Not only will the next president take office with the country sliding into a potentially long recession ââ?¬â? and mired in debt ââ?¬â? but the challenges abroad are immense. There is an unfinished war in Iraq, a worsening situation in Afghanistan and an unstable and nuclear-armed Pakistan to contend with. Iran appears intent on acquiring the bomb and there remains the ever-present threat from al-Qaeda and Islamic extremists.
If he wins, Mr Obama will inherit a Democratic-controlled Congress, and might even have the benefit of a 60-seat filibuster-proof ââ?¬Å?supermajority” in the Senate. Such a scenario would allow him to push through legislation largely unfettered by Republican opposition. Yet it also means that should the country still be mired in recession in three years’ time, voters ââ?¬â? who have short memories ââ?¬â? will probably blame him and the Democrats on Capitol Hill. Those stakes have led Mr Obama to conclude that while expectations need to be tempered, big things need to be achieved very early in his first term, when he will still have the political capital to achieve some of his most ambitious legislative goals.
Having promised ââ?¬Å?real” change, the pressure will be on him to deliver. In the Colorado interview, Mr Obama added: ââ?¬Å?The next president has got to come quickly out of the box.”
The early priorities being lined up if he takes power are a mixture of symbolism and substance. He plans to make a major address in a big Muslim country early in his first term. Having pledged on the campaign trail to close Guantanamo Bay, he is also determined to make early moves to rid America of the controversial prison. Yet what to do with the remaining inmates looms as an intractable problem, as many of their home governments refuse to allow them to return.
Mr Obama’s first legislative goals will be to follow through on his pledge to cut taxes for the middle class and raise them for the wealthiest Americans, and to push through a hugely expensive Bill to provide near-universal health insurance.
i like Sarah Palin
"i like Sarah Palin"
Me too. She is, by far, my favorite Alaskan governor hockey mom. In fact, I doubt anybody on the planet comes close. And I hear she does an awesome imitation of Tina Fey.
But as vice president? Not so much. There's a long checklist of qualities, and the only ones she seems to have are age and citizenship. Seriously.
Chicks with guns are hot! HAHAHAHAHA - I believe in the chaos theory so go Palin! you betcha! All you women who get raped will have to pay for your rape kits - now that's deficit reduction! She's an idiot!
I can't wait for Obama to lower my taxes by 500 dollars and raise the taxes on Wal mart by 500 dollars so that Wal mart can raise the price I pay for chewing tobbaco 500 dollars so they can give it back to Obama.
That stupidity even I can believe in!!!!
You people who love that guy are dumber than my 8th grade ass and thats pretty dumb.
Comment Reader threw the bait(really a bare hook) to Music Lover and SICKO and I have to say that SICKO won in a rout much like Florida over Georgia and now it is apparent that SICKO must have a college degree as opposed to Music Lover who probably spent an aborted college experience on weed.
Apparently, the majority of voters of this country have bought into the bill of goods called CHANGE and soon will be voting for a certain candidate for PRESIDENT(not VP) who is a totally inexperienced ultra liberal orator with questionable past ties to non-American value oriented individuals. This over a true American hero with vast experience in dealing with Govt. God help us all. Just one more nail in the coffin of what was once a great country. I hope I live to see the Andreas fault allow California and Michael Moore and the other Hollywood crew float off into the sunset. Too bad the heavily impartial media is not concentrated in California so they could go as well.
Policies are important though in the long run it is the congress that passes the laws. For President it should be the character and experience of the individual that is most important. History seems to prove that doing less is actually doing more and the best way to achieve that is balance congress with an opposite ideology President which mean Republican this time. I cannot understand those(now in a majority it seems) no matter what their income level that would choose larger government and greater entitlements for all to bear which is in contradistinction to what our founding fathers had in mind. The think the prophesy of the bible is coming to pass where the meek will inherit the earth.
I never respond to these things on this site, but this one....
Why is anyone surprised Obama is "lowering expectations"? I'd call it a "reality check". You can't have 8 years of SNAFUs and cluster-f'ing, and think anyone short of God Almighty can fix it in 100 days. A thousand is even being a bit optimistic. Let's see who wins and how it goes for a little while before we start rolling out any guillotines.
County Farmer, some of our country's best presidents had as little experience as Sen. Obama. Pres. Lincoln was a railroad lawyer with one long-past senate term when he won in 1860, and he's consistently rated a top-three president. Experience alone cannot be the primary qualification. We have to look at character, education, and voting record, over mere length of time served in any one office. Surely you know people who've held their job 20 or 30 years but are still not qualified to run the company they work for.
It may be that a new approach is what is required to find a way out of the current quagmire. I don't think we'll get that with McCain/Palin.
As for voters who "choose larger governments".... It's GW Bush and Company who gave us that white elephant of a big-government nightmare, the Department of Homeland Security, and it is on GW Bush's watch that banking and finance have been nationalized. The Founding Fathers probably wouldn't approve of that, either.
I think the real final nail in this country's coffin is the devolution of public discourse into hate-mongering, polarizing rhetoric. I'm registered as an independent precisely because I am sickened by this new prevailing notion that if you aren't one of "us", you're automatically some sort of godless traitor, for having a different opinion. Our Founding Fathers wanted us to have different opinions; it was one of the great ideals upon which they based the Constitution. To have different opinions is not "unAmerican". To denigrate a fellow citizen as a traitor, based on their political ideas, IS.
Though I do heartily wish California would float off into the Pacific, to become an independent nation of nutjobs.
Here's a few links for you all to look at - I'm sure that some of you will pass discerning comments on the joviality of my contribution - so to really annoy you people here is a little point for your night time consideration - Do you think that Sarah Palin says "Drill-Baby-Drill" when she's dropping her $100,000 draws to take it up the a$$ like a gOOd hockey mom?
There is some intellectual value in this link:
http://www.behindthecandidates.com/
The following two are strictly for you amusement (if you can remember you have a sense of humor):
http://www.palinaspresident.us/
http://www.ibelieveinadv.com/2008/10/amnesty-international-crazy-leaders/
County Farmer: First, your powers of perception need a wee bit work. You missed the mark on me by a country mile.
Character and experience are indeed important in the Oval Office. I would want a president, for example, who didn't make it to and through the United States Naval Academy because his father had many strings to pull. I would want a president who didn't crash not one but two naval aircraft yet kept his flight status because, again, his father had many strings to pull. I would want a president who had some intellectual curiosity and at least pretended to have an open mind - the last 7+ years have shown us what can happen when a president hears only his own voice(s).
I would want a president who worked his way through college and finished near the top of his class because he earned it. I would want a president who did the same in Law School. I would want a president who understands that the world is complex and many shades of gray, not just black and white (i.e. "you're either with us or you're against us"). I would want a president to considers, asks questions, and - wow, imagine this out-of-the-box concept - THINKS before making important decisions (such as "who is the best person I can select to serve as Vice President of the United States of America in the event I am elected?").
I would want a president who runs not a good but a Great campaign - by all accounts, one of the most organized and effective political campaigns in American history. That shows me that Obama is a man who is a great leader, and like all great leaders knows how to hire and appoint the best possible leaders and managers - not cronies like Bush and McCain have always done.
I don't think many people expect the McCain base to actually pay attention to the campaign, other than waiting eagerly for the next negative ad or sighting of Joe the Plumber. But most of America - that's right, MOST OF AMERICA - has looked below the surface, and while they have found Obama worthy, they have found McCain wanting. It's not just people who you assume attended college stoned. It's actually people who, you know, have jobs and have kids and mortgages and credit cards and parents and grandparents and some even have pets. It's people who are black, white, brown, tan, and all colors in between. It's people who voted for Kerry last time and even people who voted for Bush.
Change is often very, very troubling and even painful. Probably not as painful as the last 8 years, though.
As for the redistribution of wealth fear that the GOP is touting, let's take a look at that, and I ask you to consider one piece of data:
During the past 7+ years, there has been a redistribution of wealth. Over 650 BILLION dollars has been shifted from the middle class to the top 1%. Think about that - it's almost the amount that the government is using to pay off Wall Street. Over 650 BILLION dollars. I don't know about you, but I think I'd like my share back now, thank you very much. Maybe you don't - maybe you think it's okay for the government to fine tune the tax laws so that the burden falls more heavily on the middle class than it ever has since the Income Tax was created.
And of course, should McCain catch lightning in a bottle and pull the upset of the century, he'll be out president and - speaking only for myself - I'll support and stand behind him 100%. Can you say the same if you wake up Wednesday to a President-elect Obama?
Can you?
but Eagleburger may have reversed himself on another show where he said Obama was even less prepared. Kinda obvious really.
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/10/31/larry-eagleburger-eats-crow/
quote: "I would want a president who ... I would want a president who ... I would want a president who ... I would want a president who ... I would want a president who ,,, I would want a president who ... I would want a president who ..."
Music Lover, you forgot one. You were suppose to say you would want a president who now admits he can't deliver on his campaign promises.
I am just a dumb redneck but I still can't figure out why people are pissed at the rich. If a guy owns a car dealer and everybody buys a car and he makes a lot of money why does that make him a jerk?? Nobody kidbnapped you and brought you to the dealership.
Nobody told you to buy plasma tvs and ipods and cell phones that you can google with. Is Mr Crutchfield a jerk because he created a successful, business?
If you people that say you are not better off than eight years ago are in debts because you bought crap you didn't need with money you didn't have then YOU ARE THE PROBLEM and deserve your fate. So have a yard sale, buy an old toyota and learn your friggin lesson.
Anybody that lived within their means is ok. They say "real" wages have gone down but I don't see it. Starting Nurses at UVA can still buy the same level of living as 8 years ago and those nurses with 10 years experinence can still have the same level of living as a nurse with 10 years experience from 8 years ago and probably better.
"Anybody that lived within their means is ok. They say ââ?¬Å?real” wages have gone down but I don’t see it. Starting Nurses at UVA can still buy the same level of living as 8 years ago and those nurses with 10 years experinence can still have the same level of living as a nurse with 10 years experience from 8 years ago and probably better."
What planet are you on??? Are you insane? (I say that with laughter, if only to temper the anger I'm sensing) How many of those nurses can afford to live in Charlottesville, or even Albemarle County? Not many. How many City or County teachers can afford to live in Charlottesville, or even Albemarle County? Not many. That's one reason why the county is having such a hard time recruiting new teachers. Same with police. The term "affordable housing" used to apply to housing for people just this side of welfare. Now it applies to two-income families with one kid.
Unemployment is higher than it was 8 years ago, and it's getting worse in a hurry. The federal debt is WAY higher than it was 8 years ago. The dollar is much weaker than it was 8 years ago. The trade deficit is worse than it was 8 years ago. Far, far more American jobs have been shipped overseas in the past 8 years than in the previous 50 years. That's what happens when the governmental philosophy is hands off and look the other way.
This isn't about people like Bill Crutchfield, who I used to work for and have immense respect for. Bill has never laid one single person off, has never shipped one single job out of the country, and has done more good for his employees and his community than the vast majority of business owners around here.
This is about corporate CEOs making tens of millions of dollars because they've boosted profits by laying off their American work force and then shipping most of their labor offshore. It's about Wall Street brokers who lose their clients (that would be me, and most likely you) hundreds of billions of dollars and walk away with 8 figure severance bonuses.
Exxon-Mobile just recorded the largest quarterly profit of any company IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. And McCain wants to give them a tax break? Justify that. Defend that. EXPLAIN that. Tell us about how that tax break will trickle down through those US employees that Exxon-Mobile no longer has.
But I guess you've exposed the true "conservative" ethic: I got mine. If you don't have yours, screw you. Conservative = "me." Liberal = "we."
There's a new day dawning. You can close your eyes to it, or you can put on sunglasses, but you can't keep it from happening. The country's flirtation with conservatism is over, and the verdict is clear: it doesn't work. It never has worked. It never will work. The main reason is the economy. There's a myth that the Republicans are better for the economy and investments, but it's not true. It's not even close.
"Since 1929, both parties have held the presidency for approximately 40 years each. According to The New York Times and data from Bloomberg, during this period the consolidated returns for the S&P under Republican rule give a gain of only 0.4%. If you exclude the 30s crash under Hoover, Republican reign produces a gain of 4.7%, still far below the compounded rate of 8.9% produced by their Democratic counterparts. Over that time, a theoretical $10,000 investment in the S&P over Democratic rule would have grown to over $300,000. Under Republican rule, the same $10,000 investment would be just over $51,000 today...and putting Hoover back in the mix dwindles your return leaving you with only $11,733." (source: seekingalpha.com)
There's a lot of emotional argument going on, but when it comes down to the facts - not the beliefs, but the facts, the choice is clear to all who wish to pay then any heed.
I repeat my inquiry that was ignored: Should McCain catch lightning in a bottle and pull the upset of the century, he’ll be our president and - speaking only for myself - I’ll support and stand behind him 100%. Can you say the same if you wake up Wednesday to a President-elect Obama?
Can you?
Red Neck, do you go by another name on other sites, because that's the second time I've seen someone spout about how much money nurses make, and how if you're poor it's all your fault for buying too much stuff. Guess what? Like many people, I live within my means, but when the company I work for goes under, and I end up working two part-time jobs (with no benefits)for less money, living frugally won't always help. Savings and investments don't go far when they're destroyed by Wall Street fiascos that are completely out of the common guy's control. And you can't always predict that you're going to need to replace a roof, a furnace, and a (used) car all in the same month.
On the nurse topic: My mother is a nurse, and can't afford to live anywhere in the county of Albemarle or city of Charlottesville. She is not better off or even the same off as ten years ago, or twenty years ago, because companies now can't/won't pay overtime---so she ends up unpaid if she actually sticks around to do her paperwork, and if she doesn't do the paperwork, she gets fired---and nurses now often need to have malpractice insurance, but wages have not increased to compensate for that. That's fact, albeit emotionally presented.
I echo Music Lover, point for point. The facts show when our country propsers, and when it doesn't. After the last 8 years, it doesn't, on any level.
Music Lover, I'll answer your question. Whichever guy wins, then he's the president, and I'll show due respect. If it turns out that I don't like what he does as president, hey! In four years, I can always vote to remove him from office.
Thr reason we are in this mess is not because of government spending per se, as we have yet to even figure out how we are going to pay THAT bill. The reason we are in this mess today is directly related to consumers spending money on CRAP, new cars big houses, ipods, cell phones, vacations, starbucks and all with money they didn't have. People blew the equity in their houses and are now upside down. That is why everything collapsed. Sure the bankers let em do it but it still comes down to personal responsibility. You can blame the mortgage guy for giving you the loan. Should you blame the salesman at circuit city because he let you buy a big screen tv?
And if a nurse makes 40k she makes enough to rent a decent apartment, drive a toyota and even have a cell phone.
You people whine too much.
Lippy, I don't think anyone's denying the personal responsibility that has to be taken by those who spent waaaaay past their means on every gadget, car, outsized McMansion, etc. And a lot of them are now losing their houses, etc., so hey! I think they're getting their wake-up call.
I think I, at least, would argue that we shouldn't _all_ suffer _their_ consequences, _or_ the consequences of lenders who claimed assets that didn't exist and engaged in shady accounting practices, etc. Of course I'd be to blame if I got into financial trouble by running up credit card debts I had no hope of paying. But I didn't, just as I didn't decide to buy too much house with a zero-down negative amortization loan. I just hate that my tax money (or anyone's tax money) will bail out the idiots who did, or the idiots who bought mortgage-backed securities knowing full well that they were backed by mortgages that were (duh!) gonna have higher foreclosure rates than traditional mortgages, or... Well, you get the idea.
A lot went to make this mess, and it'll take a lot to clean it up. I would just like to see fewer of us take the fall along with those who _did_ get themselves into it through irresponsibility. Okay, wishful thinking, but I'm allowed to wish.
Lippy, I agree 40K can get anyone a decent apartment, a car, and so on. But a lot of nurses, who don't have specialties, make less than 40K. Going back to school costs money that can be very hard to find even with loans, so it's not as easy as it might sound. Just saying.
Actually, on Fox News this week, Mr. Eagleburger called Obama a con man and a charlatan.
Actually, on Fox News this week, Mr. Eagleburger called Obama a con man and a charlatan on two different occasions.
quote: "...a lot of nurses, who don’t have specialties, make less than 40K...."
Why is it a close personal friend of mine made $70K last year? And she has only been a nurse for a decade or so.
quote: "...You people whine too much..."
You got that right!!
quote: "My mother is a nurse, and can’t afford to live anywhere in the county of Albemarle or city of Charlottesville."
Sounds like your mother needs a money management course or two.