Do you know what the Bush doctrine is?
Don’t worry…neither does Sarah Palin.
Most of us aren’t precisely familiar with the Bush Doctrine or other foreign policy concepts. But then again, most of us aren’t running for vice president. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect Palin to know at least the buzzwords of modern foreign policy.
Setting aside all other issues, Palin’s obvious lack of familiarity with the Bush Doctrine is enough to make me sure that she isn’t ready to be vice president. Worse, if John McCain is elected, she’ll be only one step away from the presidency. Can the U.S. afford another president who’s approach to foreign policy is overly simplistic?
I’ve added in two other snippets from Sarah Palin’s interview with Charlie Gibson.
For a campaign that is trying to distance itself from the current administration, why is it important for her to know Bush’s policies? If elected, isn’t it more important for her to know John McCain’s policies?
I hate to trot out old lines, but aren’t those who don’t know their history doomed to repeat them? If Palin doesn’t know how we got to our current foreign policy situation, how will she know how to move forward from it?
A “doctrine” is a little more than a mere policy – it’s more a series of philosophies, principles and policies. The Bush doctrine changed the way the US deals with foreign governments/nations. Compare it to the Powell (and/or Weinberger) Doctrine.
There are certain “rules” of conduct and how the US is going to act/react – The Bush Doctrine has been codified in the National Security Strategy of the United States.
It is not unreasonable to expect someone running on a presidential ticket to know such things.
Thursday, what is our current foriegn policy “situation”? Why should the American people care?
Maddy, O.K. I concede that a doctrine is more than mere policy, but the other point still remains: John McCain will create his own Doctrine if he assumes office. Whether we like it or not, we have 3 more months of the Bush Doctrine.
I was in the Army from 2001 to 2007. I was a living cog in the Bush Doctrine, and yet if you asked me about the doctrine I also wouldn’t have known what you were talking about unless you reminded me.
I think the funny thing is that all the liberals going after Mrs. Palin are forgetting that she is the Republican VICE Presidential candidate. Every attack directed at her is one less attack at John McCain. Just seems like they’re wasting they’re breath to me.
I’d also like to remind people of one of the lessons of JFK. According to Robert McNamara in an interview for The Fog of War: after the election, Kennedy offered McNamara a Cabinet position. When McNamara refused the position he was offered Secretary of Defence. McNamara was concerned about his lack of experience and whether he was qualified for the position. Kennedy assuaged McNamara’s concerns by reminding him that there was no school where you can learn to be President.
Somehow we think that “it is not unreasonable to expect” as soon as a person announces their candidacy that they must immediately know the things that we find important. I’m sure there is a Star Trek nerd out there that thinks it is not unreasonable to expect someone running on a presidential ticket to know Captain Kirk’s birthday.
Well, our current foreign policy situation involves little things like cross-border incursions into Pakistan (something that’s been in the news all week). That sort of move by the Bush administration is part of the Bush Doctrine — I’m not saying that every American should know what the Bush Doctrine is, though.
I’m just saying that Sarah Palin should know, and be able to clearly state, whether she thinks preemptive strikes are a policy she would continue. I’m not saying whether such a tactic is good or bad — but I do think that a stance on preemptive strikes is much more important than Captain Kirk’s birthday.
Furthermore, John McCain’s opinions on just about everything are well known — he’s been in the public record since before a fair chunk of registered voters were even born. Joe Biden is the same. And even though Barack Obama is younger, there’s thousands of pages of his opinions on record. There just isn’t that kind of record for Sarah Palin. I don’t consider Charlie Gibson’s interview’s ‘going after’ Palin — I think it’s perfectly reasonable to want to know a lot more about the Governor from Alaska than we do.
One of the things bothering me, like Charles, is that Palin is not the top of the ticket, but she is being compared to Obama. It’s annoying me because McCain can just stay out of sight while Palin remains in the spotlight to energize the “base” of the GOP.
Let’s compare the top of the ticket, please. I want to see comparisons between McCain and Obama, not between Obama and Palin. Compare Palin to Biden.