Sarah Palin is not the kind of president America needs. I know all Democrats agree with me and so do some Republicans. Still, many Republicans are thrilled at the prospect of a Palin candidacy. They see Palin as common folk with a mortgage and a real marriage and children with real-world problems. She is an in your face statement against the ‘intellectualism without any common sense’ that pervades Washington DC, state governments, and much of the media. Palin has had jobs and run a business, and Republicans are quick to point to her term as governor of our largest state (sq. miles) as evidence of her proven ability to lead and to manage. Most important to Palin’s Republican supporters is that she has solidly conservative values.
These qualifications, if they are really qualifications, are not the leadership qualities that will help The U.S. remain vibrant against Asian growth and amidst European stagnation. The future of this nation requires a president of far greater intellect, vision, and ability to lead than what I have seen from Palin. The United States of America needs a president that can deliver a message much more powerful than the standard “lower taxes/ smaller government.” The next president will have to convince Americans; educate the citizens on the values of self-reliance, accomplishment and education.
The next president will have to show Americans that the path toward democratic socialism we are currently on is a path backward to the 19th and 20th centuries. We are not on a path toward a more kind and compassionate society but a society of hardship and selfishness caused by shortages of capital and resources. Economic and political concepts out of those eras, with their central planning fundamentals, will stagnate societies in this highly dynamic 21st century. The challenge is that that message will be one of extreme cognitive dissonance to a majority of Americans.
Americans need a visionary not a rogue.
The next president will have to do more than make campaign promises about “reaching across the aisle,” and bringing people together as did our current president. He or she will have to succeed. The next president will have to have the intellectual capacity and persuasive ability to lead all Americans, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, because Americans will need courage to achieve the benefits of free markets and to reverse the encroaching nanny state. Our future leader will need to inspire this level of confidence within the citizenry to give the people the courage to take on responsibilities for their own lives.
Without those intellectual and leadership qualities, the political class will continue to be mired in political squabbles and the citizens will continue to seek safety in government instead of excellence in themselves.
I have seen nothing of Sarah Palin that would indicate the ability to handle the job of the next president. It has not been in her speeches or her interviews and while I have not read the book I have read several excerpts that were excerpted to show her intellectual prowess. If I am wrong – I stand ready to be convinced, but I need to see real examples of that intellectual capacity.
Until then, I believe Republicans can and must offer the nation better than Sarah Palin.
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The Republicans, when they next get into power, will dismantle as many social programs as they can so they can distribute wealth from the shrinking middle class to corporate interests, which will be increasingly part of multinational corporations. Having Palin up there smiling and spouting her socially conservative values will convince many to vote against their self-interest and create an even wider gap between rich and poor, without any evil safety net. Only the rich deserve welfare.
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I feel strongly that we need to have an accomplished business leader for president. Each side will likely pick an ideologue but what we need is someone who has shown success in the real world on a scale approaching that of the federal government. Palin would be great if we were still in the 1800s and the federal government was not already this monstrous, but I think we need something more than just down home values in order to bring success to the activities of the federal government.
An accomplished, real world business leader? Why in the heck would they want to wallow in the sewer waters of politics? And take humongous pay cuts to do it?
That would truly be interesting if it would happen, as they understand dollars and cents better than any embedded politician. Of course, the arguments about foreign policy experience, etc. would rear up.
There once was a guy bythe name of Ross Perot…won something like 19% of the 1992 popular vote (most likely taken from Bush).
Unless we throw off the yoke of “unfair taxes” by passing FairTax legislation [H.R. 25 & S. 625] which would dismantle the IRS with its tax code that no human can decipher and allow U.S. capital to compete with the economies of other nations, it won’t matter who the next President of U.S. is. Put that in your “smipe” and “poke” it.
Sadly, FairTax legislation will never be embraced by most of our politicians because it would take away too much of their power and clout. AND a whole army of lobbyists would lose their overpaid jobs – they might have to resort to doing an honest day’s work ! It’s high time that “big money” is not responsible for how our elected officials vote. Perhaps, graft and corruption in all of our governments would be much less rampant than what it is now ! ! ! !