Not sure if this should go here or in IMHO, but it’s more political so I’ll try here.
Often on the SDMB the idea of Sarah Palin being elected as the President of the USA is cited as a virtually apocalyptic scenario, or at the least something that would put George W. Bush’s presidency in perspective. I know her winning the presidency is usually regarded as having the same odds as the Pope coming out in favor of school shootings, but let’s sake for the sake of argument that she gets nominated and wins.
So, all jokes aside, what would a Palin presidency be like? What would she accomplish? What would America look like after her presidency? How would she be regarded by history? I’m honestly curious about this.
I would hope and pray (an atheist’s prayer, whatever that is) that the country’s institutions are sturdy enough, and the opposition steady enough, to withstand the relentless onslaught of religious intrusions into the law and our lives that would surely be forthcoming.
Punditry also holds that after being elected president, most candidates end up moving towards the center. I have faint hope of this person doing so.
In fact I would have very faint hope of anything other than a further deterioration of individual liberties that would make the GWB administration seem like the good old days. Then I would probably take myself and my assets to some other country (don’t ask where, I don’t want to think about it).
Roddy
Isn’t Palin one of those end-timers? I think she’d make her dreams a reality. Global warming wouldn’t even matter once the entire planet is a smoldering crater.
In my opinion, Sarah Palin is an idiot, ripe for being a puppet of somebody else with an agenda. (Seriously, during her campaign you could see the arm sticking out of her butt.) So, who’s her VP? Who’s her handler? (And what’s the layout of the house/senate?)
Aside from that, expect a lot of idiocy to spam out of the WH, diplomatic gaffes and the like. These alone would not be too big a deal, though.
Oh, and Thor help us if a non-christian flies a 747 into a building.
I’d guess a whole lot of nothing. Most likely she’ll be puppeteered by a vice president or cabinet member, or simply be an “empty shell” who operates on if(bill.getPrimarySupport() == Republican){pass} else{veto}. She’ll probably make a lot of pretty speeches, but that’s it. Anything she advocates will probably be gutted to death by the more centrist republicans and/or the ones from contested territories that can’t afford to cater to the “core values” Republicans that Palin represents.
She would say some seriously stupid things, and right wing media pundits would defend her tooth and nail. She’d whine that everyone was being mean to her.
She’d try to nominate some people with very questionable qualifications for positions that are clearly outside their abilities - her own party would have to shoot some of them down.
She’d try to fly some ideas about really poor policies that were simplistic and not very well thought out.
Finally, she’d discover that the job of being president is hard, and she’d quit halfway through her term. This would be blamed on the liberal media, who were so mean to her.
It would be apocalyptic in the sense that at a historical moment when we very much need strong leadership, we’d spend four years essentially rudderless.
I doubt that Palin would do much active damage. I’d expect a lot of hot air and not much in the way of actual accomplishment.
Oh … and massive amounts of cronyism and corruption.
I would expected her to resign in less than a year.
If Palin had been the president instead of Nixon she would had resigned even 2 years before making the “I’m not a crook” speech.
Nowadays she would despair and resign because of the meanness of a blogger in the Samoan islands complaining about her involvement in ______. (insert **any ** scandal ending with “gate” here)
This is why we have checks and balances. Kind of got skewed during the last administration with all the “Oh noes, code red, take away freedoms, don’t question the president during a time of war*”, schtick.
If, Og forbid, she is elected, I predict a return of the 1st dude or more likely a new, improved, richer, older 1st dude. Bristol appointed to a high level position in HEW, Trap or Trac or whatever his name is in defense, Trig heading up an ADA commission. I foresee the other two on reality tv shows. Oh and a puppet-master to try and control the pit-bull. Drugs will probably be necessary.
sinjin prays to the gods of checks and balances.
*When did this meme get repealed. Oh, yeah when we elected a Dem president.
During the 2008 primary campaign much was made of the fact that Hillary was the first real female contender for presidency. I wasn’t too comfortable with the idea though, because it would send the message that sure, a woman can be president, as long as her husband has done it first.
Then we got a whole new side to it with Palin. Who knows, maybe by 2012 she could actually study, mature, and become more balanced. But the Palin of 2008 would have been a disastrous president, and would have left the office of presidency with even more shame than Bush did. The glass ceiling would be shattered, yes, but would it be replaced with one even lower than before? If President Palin cried whenever someone said anything mean about her, or resigned halfway through her first term, would anyone take the idea of a woman president seriously ever again?
The only difference from the present would be that the completely stupid and dumb-ass policies that came out of the White House all the time would be of a social nature instead of an economic nature.
For example, instead of going to Vegas and promising $1.5 billion for housing bailouts like a complete dumbass, she’d go to Kentucky and promise to pass the Defense of Marriage Act like a complete dumbass.
