A libertarian view of Obama versus Palin

[dude1394]

I always like checking out Cata blog, even though they give my party heck. An interesting libertarian view.

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2008/...on-experience/

Obama vs. Palin on Experience

Is there a libertarian position on what sort of experience a vice president needs? Libertarians have offered mixed reactions to the Sarah Palin pick. David Boaz would have preferred South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.

Compared to Sen. Joe Biden, a 36-veteran of the Senate, Palin is a breath of fresh Alaskan air. But conservatives and libertarians should remember the lesson of George W. Bush and never relent in their pressure to make sure a potential McCain-Palin administration does more than talk about cleaning up Washington and reducing the size of government.

The Obama campaign likely will turn to surrogates to make the inexperience argument against Palin because any direct shot from Obama is likely to backfire. Obama’s national experience amounts to four years in the U.S. Senate, most of which he spent not legislating but running for president.

Palin’s tenure as Alaska governor equals, if not exceeds, Obama in experience. Palin, 44, has spent 12 years in elected office: 10 years as a city councilor and mayor and nearly two as governor. Obama, 47, has also spent 12 years in office: eight years as a state senator and close to four as a U.S. senator.

“Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency,” an Obama spokesman sniffed. They soon backpedaled on that line of attack, perhaps realizing Obama might alienate small-town voters who realize their mayors are often tested with tough decisions and budgets, rather than up-or-down votes.

Comparing her experience to Biden borders on ridiculous. Since when do libertarians find encouragement in government, much less someone who has spent 36 years in Washington funding programs like Amtrak and prosecuting the drug war?

On foreign policy, it’s not trivial to note that Obama seeks the presidency while Palin seeks the number two slot. Even if McCain died in office, Palin would retain McCain’s foreign policy team and have at least some experience as vice president.

As McCain’s operatives are sure to stress in the coming weeks, it’s pretty ironic for Obama to bash Palin on foreign policy experience when, in July, he visited Iraq for the first time since announcing his presidential bid — after repeated criticism from McCain — and has not held a single hearing on Afghanistan in his Senate subcommittee (again, letting Biden carry his foreign policy water). He also visited Afghanistan for the first time in July. Palin has visited Kuwait once in her role as commander of the Alaska National Guard.

Libertarians still have grave concerns about McCain’s foreign policy, but I think the Iraq war has lost salience as an issue, especially since the U.S. and Iraqi governments have basically agreed to withdraw troops by 2011, and most voters are focusing on the economy.

Finally, some have suggested that Palin was tapped simply because she was a woman. No doubt that played a role in her selection, but what matters is Palin’s reform record and standing as the antithesis of a Beltway insider. I predict attacks that Palin was only selected because of her gender will be as successful as complaints that Obama won because of his race.

[Janett_Reno]

Here is another view...


Biden is the senior United States Senator from Delaware. Born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania for ten years prior to moving to Delaware, Biden trained as a lawyer and became a senator in 1973 at age 30, the fifth-youngest senator in U.S. history.

He has served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, dealing with issues related to drug policy, crime prevention, women's rights and civil liberties. He is a long-time member and current chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and has worked on resolutions concerning the Yugoslav wars and Iraq War.

In his sixth consecutive term in the Senate, Biden has served for the sixth-longest period among current senators.

Sarah Palin has been governor of Alaska for just a bit over 18 months, and has managed to invoke a formal ethics investigation by the legislature and criminal investigation by the States Attorney General concerning her conduct during her very short tenure. The entire state of Alaska would only make it the 17th most populous city in the United States. Just ahead of Fort Worth.

Before that, she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. Population 9,000. The "powers and duties" for the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska? Check their municipal code:

1. Preside at council meetings. The mayor may take part in the discussion of matters before the council, but may not vote, except that the mayor may vote in the case of a tie;

2. Act as ceremonial head of the city.

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Now far as experience, Biden wins and Biden is no push over in anything he does. You told me, he isn't important because he has ran before for pres and didn't get it. You talked like he was to old. Now if you want to try to turn this to "change". I give that to Palin but don't start in on me with morals, faith and values because we will go back into Palin's life and you want to avoid that at all cost and probably McCain's also unless you stay on he was a pow.

As far as old and who has run for pres before, just like Biden and seems to me has been in politics awhile himself? His name is John McCain and he is no spring chicken himself. Now if you want to give experience to McCain against Obama, then he has that but with the Palin pick, he throws experience away.

If a vp means something to people, then they will decide who they trust in the white house if something happens to our pres, Biden or Palin. If Palin wins change on the reps side, the Obama wins change on the dems side.

All i can say this was a desperate move Rove made because he could see how the states was linning up. Obama was making the reps fight on to many fronts and to many states and plus they had to hold fl and oh as well as the west. Obama had starting creeping out west and a woman they think put's Hillary voters at play and they do better in the west.

[dude1394]

Rove?? You really are kooky.

[Janett_Reno]

Just like i said, Biden has more experience than Palin and i feel most know where Biden stands on the issues and doesn't have to guess.

Things Palin will have to show the public if she’s spent years taking out corrupt Republicans in AK, particularly as the Mayor of the big city of Wasillia, then why did she turn to the most corrupt Republican of them all, Ted Stevens, to help her get re-elected?

Does Governor Palin edorse Ted Stevens for re-election? What is her relationship with other corrupt politicians in her party in Alaska?

What is her position on global warning?

Giving benefits to homosexual parners of state workers?(Palin vetoes HB 4001)

http://community.adn.com/?q=node/104285

If she is a fiscal conservative, how come the budget she signed includes the most spending in Alaska history?

Why did she fire the public safety commissioner in Alaska? Will she release all the records she turned over to investigators in that case?

What is her position on evolution?

Really, who is Sarah Palin? What do we know about her? How is she qualified to be President of the United States?


Also if you do not know Stevens, like Rove, just google him up. In the end i feel Biden will tell the people the change we need and explain how to get there as where Palin will have to explain who she is, where she came from, what does she believe in, if her husband has now joined her and the gop party or does he still support a third party. The issues will be easier for Biden to stay on because most knows where he stands as where Palin will be out explaining just whom she is. I feel this was a huge risk and the better choise was Romney and then Palenty.

[Janett_Reno]

Other people that would have helped McCain, as a woman, Kay Bailey. Colin Powell and that is if Powell doesn't support Obama. Condi Rice. People have actually heard of these people. Huckabee, Palenty, Romney. Romney is actually a republican and knows economics. Looking back on this, if Obama picks Hillary then Mcain does pick a Romney because Rove still would have put his foot down and stopped McCain's choice of Liberman.

Yes Hillary was strong and easily wins Pa, maybe Ar, put's more southern states at play, she is strong in Oh and in Fl but with Romney, they pick up more of the western states and also battles Hillary in Mi, Oh, Pa, Nh. Myself, i do not understand the Palin pick and maybe she is a wonderful woman but she will be vp and just a step away from pres and i think most will want to know who she is and what she stands for.

[Janett_Reno]

We didn’t know much about Alaska Governor Sara Palin when John McCain nominated her as the GOP Vice Presidential candidate. Apparently neither did John McCain, other than she beat the good old boys club in Alaska politics and vetoed the Bridge to Nowhere. Somehow, he believed, that qualifies you to be the President of the United States.

In the four days since the announcement we have now learned that as Mayor of Wasilla she hired a lobbying firm with close ties to corrupt Alaska Republicans Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young, to obtain over $27 million in earmarks for her town over a 4 year period. This pork barrel spending amounted to over $1,000 per resident of Wasilla.

We have also learned that when she was running for Governor in 2006 she supported using the senior status and power of Alaska’s Congressional delegation to obtain funding for the Bridge to Nowhere. And why wouldn’t she? Alaskan politicians for years have been re-elected over and over again on the promise that they will bring home the bacon from Washington, DC and have gotten results. Alaska is the most heavily federally subsidized state in the United States thanks to folks like Ted Stevens and Don Young.

We have also learned that while at the same time national Republicans ridiculed a national windfall profits tax on oil companies in 2006 Governor Palin got one passed in Alaska (and increased the tax again in 2007) and distributed the profits of oil companies in the form of $1,200 checks to Alaska citizens.

Today we learn of something even more disturbing about Palin and her associations with a secessionist political party in Alaska, the Alaskan Independence Party. The AIP believes that Alaskan statehood is illegal and wants Alaska to secede from the Union and become its own independent nation. According to the Alaskan Independence Party’s chairperson, Palin was a member of the party as late as 1996 before becoming a Republican and running for Mayor that year. She even addressed the group’s convention earlier this year.

What else will we learn about Sara Palin’s radical associations over the coming weeks and days?

The storyline about Governor Palin, who apparently met John McCain only once in person 6 months ago before selecting her for the Vice Presidential nomination and putting her a heartbeat away from the Presidency if the 72 year old candidate is elected, is that she’s a reformer who fights corruption.

However, during her race for the Governorship back in 2006, it seems that she supported the Bridge to Nowhere and any other pork barrel projects her corrupt buddies in the Alaska Congressional delegation, like Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young, could bring home before the Republicans lost the majority in the 2006 election, and hence their ability to steer pork barrel projects back to Alaska.

The key statement from the October 22, 2006 Anchorage Daily News:

5. Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?

Yes. I would like to see Alaska’s infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now - while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.

So while Ted Stevens was making commercials endorsing Palin, she was supporting his efforts to build the Bridge to Nowhere.

What a reformer. Sounds like politics as usual if you ask me.

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See dude, Biden and Obama have to answer to all. Just like when Bill didn't want to have to answer, remember Bill? Two that wanted to impeach Bill and was the head of the impeach Bill list, David Vitter and Larry Craig. Remember these two guys? Politics is not easy and for some reason it seems that alot of your decisions and even your personal life just turn up in public untill the point they want you to answer to things. McCain is smart enough because he is an old pro on knowing what to say and what not to. Just like Biden and seems as if Obama is as well. I have noticed Obama will even address negative things and issues others run away from.

This won't be easy for Palin and she will have to stand strong and answer and maybe she will answer who she is and what she stands for and do just fine but it is hard on someone to be thrown into the lions den without experience in it before. Again, Rice, Kay Bailey, Romney, Palenty and Huckabee knows the ropes and we will have to wait and see on Palin. I sort of feel sorry for her to be put in this position.

[Flacolaco]

I agree. Palin should have been able to look into the future and see all that crap that was going to happen with Ted Stevens before she tried to work with him. We need a VP with a crystal ball.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

We need a VP with a crystal ball.

Maybe even a pair of 'em...


(because sexism is funny!)

[Arne]

I presonally see A LOT of libertarians voting for John McCain.