Ok, nightmare scenario - it’s 2012, and Palin is elected, under the campaign slogan “You betcha!”. We know she has presidential aspirations and has popular support in some quarters, so don’t fight the hypothetical - Bush got re-elected, after all despite it being a nightmare scenario for some in 2004 (or, as the Daily Mirror here in the U.K. put it “How Can 59 Million People Be So Dumb”).
You may think this is a simple ‘who do you hate more’ thread, but no - I want to know specifics. My personal view from across the big pond they call the Atlantic Ocean - whereas Bush was popularly perceived as a total dumbass (see these: George W. Bush - Wikiquote), who took us into an illegal war and believes God works through him, I think there was a little more there. I think he played into a 'good ‘ol boy’ image for the press and the whole ‘I’d go for a drink with him’ crowd. I was surprised when I watched some videos from his governor days which were surprisingly eloquent (see stuff like this, among others), even if I disagree with his politics.
Palin has made many similar stupid statements to Bush (see: Sarah Palin - Wikiquote), but the difference is that I think what you see is what you get.
So, here’s the big question - America got through 2 Bush administrations. How much worse (or better) could Palin possibly be? Would you emigrate to Canada post haste, or trust in the same system of checks and balances that kept every president since Washington in check? Educate an ignorant foreigner.
Another foreigner checking in, so expect similar ignorance. I would say for one thing that Bush did have some smart people around him - they did manage to get quite a bit done, despite my personal dislike for those things. I suspect that President Palin would be more willing to go for zealotry of political views as merit for roles than political savviness.
I was thinking more Ray Comfort - after all, why have the monkey when you can have the organ grinder? But he’s not American, so that shoots that down.
Seriously though, I didn’t pick a VP because the premise is contentious enough, speculating on a VP adds another layer I didn’t necessary think was relevant - it’s “Not worth a bucket of warm piss”.
IOW, Palin’s choices for various posts and court choices are going to provide an outline she will intend to follow for her Presidency.
I don’t know that her choice of VP is going to convey the gravitas of Cheney, or be more along the lines of Danforth Quayle.
Assuming Obama garners no more Supreme Court picks, the actuarial tables might be suggesting a windfall for Palin. That might be of great consequence than most any legislative agenda she might be able to run through what I expect to be, a Congress with one body not presenting a Republican majority.
Unsurprisingly the search terms ‘Bush’ ‘Palin’ ‘Elected’ ‘President’ turned up about 200 billion results. Besides, this is more a comparison than straight prediction.
I think she would be content to handle the celebrity aspects of the presidency and leave policy decisions to behind the scenes players more than Bush. Since one of her earlier backers was Bill Kristol, I would expect an administration at least as neocon as Bush’s. Appointments to political positions would be even more Religious Right / Moral Majority-ish than Bush’s. That would be her base as opposed to Bush’s base of wealthy big business types.
I guess whether that’s better or worse depends on your current political beliefs.
Much worse. Bush might have been an idiot, but he was connected to a network of people who, if evil, and least didn’t to need to ask for directions for getting to the Washington Monument from the Capitol.
I don’t agree that she would consent to be a figurehead. I think that she really thinks she is smart and has good policy ideas. But Og knows what would happen the first time she faced a difficult policy decision with significant consequences, which I don’t think she has ever done before.
But I don’t think she will ever run - the job doesn’t pay enough.
Even if you think she is somehow unqualified it’s not clear how a Palin presidency would be any more disastrous than the average administration, which tend to be focused on spreading aggression abroad and economic ruin at home.
I know it is hard to believe, but Bush did graduate from Yale and Harvard Business School. I have read that his IQ is about 135. That is not much by Ivy League standards, but it puts him in the upper two percent of the country.
Sarah Palin is obviously much less intelligent. Bush ran the country off the rail. Palin would run it off the cliff.
Bush respected boundaries between personal and private. I’m not sure Palin even believes that such boundaries exist. Between “Troopergate,” the shameless use of various children as political props, the Yahoo email accounts, the press release battle with her grandson’s father, the reality series, etc., I think it’s obvious that she has no intentions of having any division between her personal life and her political life.
Bush was arguably only in a position to become Governor of Texas (let alone get the nomination in 2000) because of his father, but I don’t think he ever had such a shameful lack of ability to compartmentalize (and he would have let Dick Cheney shoot him in the face before having his daughters participate in a reality show designed to advance his political career).
In the end, I don’t think a Palin presidency would be particularly productive, because she would end up alienating everyone for various reasons. Remember, this is the person who compared herself to the stereotype of a pitbull and thought that was a positive personality aspect. Regardless of the party controlling Congress, I think she would end up as some sort of highly-visible but ultimately weak figurehead. Maybe she would have a Reganesque chief of staff who could run the country for her, but I’m not sure that there is anyone marginally competent and able to deal with her.
What would be a difficult decision for Sarah Palin? I think she has an easy answer for everything; cut taxes, support the troops, etc. I’ve never seen her address an issue in anything more than the most superficial terms. That common sense approach will see her through everything from North Korean nukes to natural disasters to economics.
So really, describe a scenario that would put Sarah Palin in a spot to even contemplate a difficult decision.
Now, I’m not saying that Bush is a basset hound, I’m just wondering why he hasn’t answered the questions many people have about him being a basset hound. I find that terribly suspicious.
My opinion more or less echoes Voyager’s: Bush may have been no genius, but he wasn’t a total dunce, and he surrounded himself with competent(ly evil) people. A Palin presidency would make me cry.
