Why Sarah Palin Scares Me

I am a self-proclaimed left-wing liberal.  If you don’t agree with my politics, you can stop reading now because what follows will probably make you puke.  But politics aside, I actually gave a lot of thoughts on what I am about to say.  Ultimately, I believe I’ve made up my mind in an objective way, and that made me feel comfortable in sharing my political views with you — especially those of you I don’t personally know.

Many people have said that Sarah Palin is not qualified to be one heart beat away from running the country.  I completely agree.  I have seen and heard enough of her to know that while she makes a good neighbor and a great hockey mom, she does not have the ability, wisdom, or credential to run a S&P 500 company, much less the United States of America.

What many failed to mention is that McCain need not die for Palin to exert her (twisted) influence on this country.  In particular, the Vice President of United States of America also serves as the President of the Senate and as such casts the tie-breaking vote in the Senate should there be a need.  If you don’t think that is significant, consider this: our first President of the Senate, John Adams, cast twenty-nine tie-breaking votes.  One of his tie-breaking votes prevented a potentially costly war with Great Britain.  And on at least one occasion he persuaded senators to vote against legislation that he opposed.

More recently in 2001, the Senate was divided 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats and thus Dick Cheney’s tie-breaking vote gave the Republicans the Senate majority.  (Click here for the complete record of tie-breaking votes.)  Although ties are infrequent in the 100 person Senate, they occur on the most divisive and often controversial issues. The lesson is that we must demand a competent Vice President.

So if you still think that the VP of the United States does little and has little influence over the laws and policies set in government, think again and ask yourself this question: Is Palin qualified (in experience and in character and integrity) to make decisions that will influence you and me in the near and distant future?  My vote is no, and I hope you will join me on November 4th and vote for Obama-Biden!

Update: Here is an interesting article about the role of the vice president and the argument for abolishing the vice presidency.

Register to Vote!

To my American readers: the deadline to register to vote is just around the corner.  Please do your civic duty and register to vote.  This upcoming election is too consequential to take lightly (or sit out altogether).  Remember what happened in 2000?  Don’t let it happen again!

Rock the vote — let’s all do it together!