Sarah Palin: Not Ready to be Vice President

By MIA WALSH
UNLEASHED STAFF

“ … What is it exactly that the vice president does every day?”
That’s how Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, replied when asked by Larry Kudlow of CNBC’s “Kudlow & Co.” about the possibility of becoming John McCain’s vice presidential running mate.
According to the World Book Encyclopedia, the “vice president of the United States is only a heartbeat away from the most powerful elective office in the world. The vice president must be ready to become president or acting president at a moment’s notice if the president dies, resigns, is removed from office, or becomes unable to perform the duties of office.”
Thirty-one percent of past vice presidents have had to serve for some period of time as the President of the United States.
The question is whether Palin has shown — in her past experience in Alaska and recent interviews — that she has enough knowledge of politics to one day become President of the United States and Commander and Chief of its armed forces.
Palin began her political career by winning a seat on the Wasilla City Council in 1992. Four years later, she became the mayor.
Wasilla is a small city in Alaska with a population, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, of only 5,469. That’s smaller than Toppenish, which has a population of 8,946.
After two three-year terms as mayor, Palin ran for governor of Alaska. She lost the 2002 election, but won after running again in 2006. She only served for 20 months as the governor of the 4th least populous state in the U.S. before being chosen by John McCain as the Republican vice-presidential nominee.

Soon after becoming mayor of Wasilla, Palin approached the town librarian about the possibility of banning books, The New York Times reported.
She also fired John Cooper, the city’s museum director, who had a “long-running feud” with Steve Stoll, a local conservative who supported Palin, The New York Times also reported. The city attorney, Richard Deuser, was also fired by Palin after he issued a stop-work order on a home being built for Don Showers, another Palin supporter, according to The New York Times.
While running for governor, Palin proved she didn’t know Alaska’s policies during candidate forums. She had to be aided by the many color-coded note cards that she kept at hand when answering questions. During one forum, when asked what she would do about health care policy, she said she would find an answer in the pile of solutions and she placed her hand atop a pile of reports sitting beside her.
When she became governor, Palin again made sure she was surrounded by people she had known for years, even though they were not qualified. For example, she appointed Franci Havemeister, an old high school friend, to a position with the State Division of Agriculture — with the salary of $95,000 a year. Havemeister was a real-estate agent that reportedly loved cows.
Palin hired at least four other high school friends for positions in the Alaskan government, The New York Times reported.
However, if any of those old friends did anything in their personal life that Palin disagreed with, she would fire them. Take John Bitney, for example. Palin hired Bitney, then fired him when she learned he had fallen in love with another longtime friend, according to The New York Times.
Plus, Palin rarely spent time in the state capital of Juneau. In fact, in her first year as governor, she spent 312 nights in her home in Wasilla, about 600 miles from Juneau, and got paid extra for it.
According to The Washington Post, Palin’s per diems totaled $17,059, from Dec. 4, 2006, when she took office, through June 30, 2008, the most recent data available. Her salary is $125,000 a year.
She was able to receive the per diems while at home because her official “duty station” is listed as Juneau, The Washington Post reported.
She has also sided with oil and gas companies instead of protecting Alaska’s wildlife. As governor, Palin sued the federal government to block the listing of polar bears as endangered because she said the scientists had found no ill effects of global warming on the bears. According to The New York Times, Rick Steiner, a professor at the University of Alaska, acquired the email messages from the scientists to Palin; the scientists had actually agreed the bears were in danger.
Palin also opposed listing the Cook Inlet beluga whale as an endangered species. The population of this unique whale has decreased from 1,300 in the 1980s to only 350 today. But listing them as endangered would threaten oil and gas development.
And with her “drill, drill, drill” tactic, Palin supported drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, home to a countless number of wildlife, including many endangered species.

After serving for only 20 months as governor, Palin was named McCain’s running mate in the 2008 presidential election.
Since then, she’s given many interviews, which show she has little knowledge of governmental issues and tends to not answer the questions she is asked.
On ABC “World News Tonight,” Charlie Gibson asked her: “What insight into Russian actions does the proximity of this state (Alaska) give you?”
Palin answered: “They are our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.”
She reiterated this again and again during other interviews, trying to prove she has dealt with foreign policy.
In an interview with Katie Couric for CBS “Evening News,” she jumped from one topic to another in an incoherent attempt to answer a question about the economic crises.
And when Couric pressed Palin for examples of McCain’s leading the charge for more oversight, Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, said, “I’ll try to find ya some and I’ll bring um to ya.”
When Gibson asked Palin, “Do you agree with the Bush Doctrine?” about four seconds passed until Palin finally answered, “In what respect Charlie?”
What do you interpret it to be? he asked.
With a lack of confidence, Palin smiled and — sounding more like a question than a statement, said, “His world view?”
Not exactly, Palin.

If these things happened once, we might think Palin was having a bad day. But these things keep happening over and over again.
It seems as though Palin is having a lot of bad days lately.
The vice president is supposed to be ready to stand in as president. Through Palin’s past experience as governor and her recent interviews, she has shown the people of the United States that she isn’t ready for either job.

• Mia Walsh is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republic’s Unleashed team. She attends Davis High School.

Sarah Palin: Represents Christian Values

By JESSICA CUMMINGS
UNLEASHED STAFF

Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, John McCain’s vice presidential candidate — who would have thought?
To tell you the truth, before the media started talking about her, I didn’t even know who she was. I consider myself a conservative Christian Republican. (Some of my left-leaning friends have used the term “ultra-right wing extremist,” but I’m not particularly fond of that.)
I’m not all for McCain: I feel he’s too liberal. But with Palin as his vice president I am definitely more willing to support him — not with my vote, because I’m still too young, but with what side of political discussions I find myself supporting.
Palin is the person I feel that best represents me and my beliefs. She is a Christian and as such I know she and I will have a lot of fundamental views in common, such as the importance of the family, the belief that marriage is between one man and one woman, that abortion is murder no matter how you look at it, and that liberty isn’t free; it comes at a great price but one that’s worth paying.
Palin makes it clear that this is what she believes. Even though she knows the media will hound her for it, she still stands for what she believes.
That in itself has earned her my respect and support.
I believe this country could use people who have a strong conviction of what is right and what is wrong and are not afraid to stand up for the right cause even if it brings public ridicule.
I’ve read about what she has done in Alaska: cutting state spending dramatically, making school funding more efficient, aiding seniors, working to make the oil companies more competitive and removing the gas tax when fuel prices went up.
I wish other state governors would follow her example.
To me, it seems she has the right idea of how to run things. People don’t need bigger government to help them, they need efficient government that makes people work for what they receive.

— Jessica Cummings is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republic’s Unleashed team. She attends Bickleton High School.

Sarah Palin: “Just Not Up to Par”

By LETY CLARK-OLIVERO
UNLEASHED STAFF

Are there any U.S. Supreme Court cases other than Roe v. Wade that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin can recall?
Apparently not.
When pressed by CBS news anchor Katie Couric, Palin, the vice presidential candidate, couldn’t think of any that she disagreed with or otherwise. Instead, she drew a blank, stalled for time and rambled.
“Well, let’s see,” she said. “There’s, of course — in the great history of America rulings, there have been rulings, that’s never going to be absolute consensus by every American. And there are those issues, again, like Roe v. Wade where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So, you know, going through the history of America, there would be, there would be others but … ”
Even I, a high school junior, can — off the top of my head — name at least three. If a 16-year-old can do this with no government or large leadership experience, what does it say for the future of our country?
Political commentator Jack Cafferty called Palin’s interview with Couric “disastrous.”
“If John McCain wins this woman will be one 72-year-old’s heartbeat away from being President of the United States. And if that doesn’t scare the hell out of you, it should,” he told Wolf Blizter on CNN.
He called a clip from the same interview “one of the most pathetic pieces of tape I have ever seen from someone aspiring to one of the highest offices in this country.”
And he hit the nail on the head.
Some people view Barack Obama as an unqualified presidential candidate. However, Palin is even more unqualified.
While it’s impressive to me to have a woman running for such a powerful office, there are still standards that should be met no matter what gender a candidate is, and Palin is just not up to par.
She is a good woman in many senses. She grew up in the Alaskan wilderness and hunts and fishes like many Americans. She is also the mother of five, one of whom is pregnant at 17, another of whom is serving in the military, and a newborn with Down syndrome. She’s been through a lot and fought through it.
But does her hockey mom instinct and beauty pageant smile make her a qualified candidate to be the second-in-command of our country?
I think not.
Palin does posses an uncanny ability to talk on a personal level through her winks, nods, and scrunching of her nose in debates. But what about the actual answers to the questions? She seems to dance around them and always refers back to her talking points, which, by the way, are on note cards held under the podium during debates.
McCain is 72. If the McCain-Palin ticket wins, it’s very likely Palin could become president.
Please, America, make the right decision. Vote Barack Obama and John Biden. We must keep McCain and his smiling beauty queen out of office.

— Lety Clark-Olivero is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republic’s Unleashed team. She attends Eisenhower High School.

Sarah Palin: Is She Really Ready?

By ALEX BRAMAN
DAVIS HIGH SCHOOL

Presidential candidate John McCain wanted a fresh perspective in the White House. But is Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin too young and inexperienced?
Her foreign policy experience is limited to her state’s proximity to Russia and Canada. When asked recently by CBS news anchor Katie Couric to explain why being close to these two countries enhanced her foreign policy experience, she replied, “Well, it certainly does because our, our next-door neighbors are foreign countries. They’re in the state that I am the executive of.”
When Couric asked whether Palin has ever been involved in any negotiations with, for example, with the Russians, she replied:
“We have trade missions back and forth, we do. It’s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It’s Alaska. It’s just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there, they are right next to our state.”
It sounds like she has no idea what she is talking about.
Palin lacks the ability to effectively communicate her ideas. When asked questions of which the answers haven’t yet been rehearsed, she stammers and tries to change the focus of the question.
I would like the vice president of my country to be able to tell me what she thinks on an issue — not just change the subject to a topic she thinks she’s better at talking about.
The vice president is one step away from becoming, or acting at a moment’s notice as, the president of the United States and the commander-in-chief of this country’s armed forces.
Is Palin really ready to be vice president?
Could she handle the job of president?
McCain’s age — 72 — requires us to consider the possibility that Palin could become our president if the McCain-Palin ticket is elected on Nov. 4.
To me, Palin’s lack of foreign policy experience and her inability to communicate effectively to America are just a couple of her many flaws that should disqualify her.

— Alex Braman is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republic’s Unleashed team. He attends Davis High School.

Sarah Palin: A Fresh Voice

By LIBBY YOUNG
UNLEASHED STAFF

Sarah Palin is a fresh choice for the vice presidency.
She has experience in politics in Alaska, but would be a new face in Washington, D.C., and bring new perspective to our country.
She is also someone with whom average Americans can identify. Because of this, she would be a solid representative of the American people as the second-in-command of the United States.
Alaska is the country’s largest state. And Palin was the state’s first female and youngest governor. Running Alaska is an immense responsibility, one that Palin has taken on and done well.
She has been involved in other leadership roles, too. She’s a former chairwoman of Alaska’s State Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and she served as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, from 1996 to 2002.
She would be able to draw on these experiences as vice president and make well-thought out and better decisions because of it.
Palin has had tough ethical standards for politicians in her own state and has a reputation of not tolerating unethical behavior.
As a working mother of five, she balances spending time with her family and her job, and has to deal with the same family-related issues that other Americans face. She cares about what the average American thinks about the biggest family issues of today.
And she backs up her political beliefs through her own actions. When she learned her youngest son would likely be born with Down syndrome, she still chose to have him and not to get an abortion, backing her own anti-abortion political beliefs.
Palin is for the United States becoming energy independent, which is a big issue in this election. She considers it to be a matter of national security to make sure our country is an energy independent nation. She supports domestic drilling and increased refinery production.
Palin brings new hope and a strong commitment to conservative ideals. She offers a real change from the Washington, D.C., insiders that America is used to seeing in national politics.
Palin is sensitive to the country’s need for energy independence and our national security issues. She has an intolerance for corruption regardless of political party, a strong personal faith and the courage to back up her beliefs through her personal actions.
She offers the country a true voice for change, while still being grounded in her conservative ideals.

— Libby Young is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republic’s Unleashed team. She attends La Salle High School.