# Would Palin be worse than GWB as President? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 4, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-palin-be-worse-than-gwb-as-president/461990 "2008-09-04T14:24:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-palin-be-worse-than-gwb-as-president/461990/21 "2008-09-04T22:36:20Z")
> [@JohnnieEnigma](#): > > I think you’re right about that. I wish he listened more to Colin Powell than that other one ( I forgot his name). You probably mean Rumsfeld. Interestingly, now that I’ve identified this character defect in Bush, it seems to show up glaringly in the way Bush handled the selection of his running mate in 2000. First he handed off the choice to Cheney, then when Cheney came back and said “I nominate me”, he accepted it, apparently without reservations! At the time, though, I just took this as a sign that Bush was a nebbish with no will of his own. That turned out not to be true; he seems to be a very strong-willed person, but he has this blind spot. Interpreting a candidate’s character strengths and weaknesses seems to be easy only in hindsight. With a candidate we haven’t seen much of, such as Gov. Palin, I think we’re basically at a loss. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-palin-be-worse-than-gwb-as-president/461990/22 "2008-09-04T22:40:08Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > The evidence is all out there. Just read and watch. Just supporting a separatist party should be enough to disbar her without supporting creationism and all the other shit floating to the surface. She isn’t even a Governor in any real sense. Alaska? Give me a break. I could do that job in my spare time. No population, no money problems beyond how to spread the wealth. And you aren’t bothered by her self-professed ignorance of the Iraq War? Alaska has 680,000 people, which means it’s 47th in population. Nobody complained that Howard Dean was unqualified to be president because he only was governor of Vermont with only 620,000 people, or that Biden is unqualified since he’s from Delaware with only 860,000 people: [List of U.S. states and territories by population - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population). And it’s simply not true that oil makes the only problem figuring out how to spend the money, it’s 7th in a list of states by GDP per capita: [List of U.S. states and territories by GDP - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_GDP_per_capita_(nominal)). And like all areas that depend on resource extraction industries, the economy is subjected to regular boom and bust cycles due to swings in prices for those products. And everything costs more and is harder due to extreme distances and climate. [Alaska - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska) That isn’t to say that Palin is a particularly good choice for Vice President for some of the OTHER reasons you cite, but you denigrate Alaska at your peril, sir. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-palin-be-worse-than-gwb-as-president/461990/23 "2008-09-04T22:46:51Z")
Plus we could have a pregnant president for the first time in our history That would be fun. You know she does not believe in birth control. ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-palin-be-worse-than-gwb-as-president/461990/24 "2008-09-04T22:51:46Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Alaska has 680,000 people, which means it’s 47th in population. **Nobody complained** that Howard Dean was unqualified to be president because he only was governor of Vermont with only 620,000 people (bolding mine) Cite? And even if no one did complain about this, maybe as governor of a small state he _was_ unqualified. Remember, his campaign collapsed before the Iowa caucus–and it was old, experienced Kerry who was the winner there. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-palin-be-worse-than-gwb-as-president/461990/25 "2008-09-04T23:06:05Z")
Well, let’s put it another way. I would imagine that intersection of the set of people complaining that Sarah Palin is unqualified since she is the governor of a small state and the set of people who complained/complain that Howard Dean and Joe Biden are/were unqualified because they were the governor/senator of small states is a pretty small number. All I’m saying is that you all have the idea that Alaska is an unpopulated wilderness. And of course it’s true that most of Alaska is an unpopulated wilderness, but there’s still more people in Alaska than there are in Vermont. Alaska has a small population compared to most states, but it isn’t off the charts. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-palin-be-worse-than-gwb-as-president/461990/26 "2008-09-04T23:20:44Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Alaska has 680,000 people, which means it’s 47th in population. Nobody complained that Howard Dean was unqualified to be president because he only was governor of Vermont with only 620,000 people, or that Biden is unqualified since he’s from Delaware with only 860,000 people: [List of U.S. states and territories by population - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population). Except maybe in a campaign the size of the population of the state you represent as Senator means nothing. A small state senator with seniority has the same job as a large state one. So, the comparison with Biden is pointless. Plus, Biden is senator from Pennsylvania also. Alaska has less population than San Francisco, which doesn’t make Gavin Newsom qualified to be president. I suspect San Francisco is far more complex to run than Alaska in any case. ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-palin-be-worse-than-gwb-as-president/461990/27 "2008-09-04T23:23:55Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Well, let’s put it another way. I would imagine that intersection of the set of people complaining that Sarah Palin is unqualified since she is the governor of a small state and the set of people who complained/complain that Howard Dean and Joe Biden are/were unqualified because they were the governor/senator of small states is a pretty small number. > > All I’m saying is that you all have the idea that Alaska is an unpopulated wilderness. And of course it’s true that most of Alaska is an unpopulated wilderness, but there’s still more people in Alaska than there are in Vermont. Alaska has a small population compared to most states, but it isn’t off the charts. Point taken. Actually, I wonder if being governor of any state really prepares you all that well to be President. Governors have been better than senators at getting themselves elected to the White House, but I’ve always thought that’s mostly because they don’t have voting records for their enemies to dig up. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-palin-be-worse-than-gwb-as-president/461990/28 "2008-09-04T23:29:33Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > She would be just like Bush. Rove and his evil minions would still control the power. She is in no way able to run the country. She had trouble running a village. She’d be worse. Bush at least had a contingent of qualified people from his father’s administration. They turned out to be evil, but they certainly had experience. Who does she even know in Washington aside from her Congressional delegation? Who has she even spoken to before this week with serious foreign policy or economic credentials? Does she have the experience to judge between three or four conflicting policy proposals offered by people who know a lot more than she does? BTW, besides abstinence education, creationism and Jeezus, what is she for? Does she have an opinion on a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, besides praying for one? Does she have any thoughts on the mortgage crisis not written for her? Does she have any serious policy positions on things that don’t affect Alaska? We know Biden does, like them or not. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-palin-be-worse-than-gwb-as-president/461990/29 "2008-09-04T23:56:18Z")
Back to the OP. Would she be worse than GWB as President? Talk about setting the bar low…but I guess you can make a case that she is equally as clueless as Dubya. Seriously, does anyone in the “Palin is a great choice” camp honestly think she is the best choice John McCain could have made as his VP candidate - of all the potential male and female Republicans in the entire party?! Nobody was better? Most people know their grocery store cashier better than McCain knew Palin when he chose her to be his VP. To me, this doesn’t bode well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-palin-be-worse-than-gwb-as-president/461990.md?page=1)