On the difference between McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden

By Stephen D'Allotte, Editorial Times.ca

A commentor to a recent blog post said about the McCain/Palin ticket: "Just think of the decisions they will have to make and they are illiterate in these areas." [referring to a short list of technical / semi-intellectual areas]

I don't think that statement is valid, for several reasons. A higher education does not guarantee an understanding or provide a handbook for real world application of those subjects, or in fact, of most subjects. All it does is provide a context in which to place the experience one gains over the next few years. Once 10 years out, real world experience begins to level out the advantage gained by the head start in higher learning.

Additionally, unless you stay tight to your chosen field, you begin to become stale in it anyway. What's important from your higher learning experience for most is the skill set you picked up in critical thinking. This is topic independent. Life experience will thereafter refine and develop these skills, or not.

No one, not the magic O, nor McCain, nor Palin, can carry the entire knowledge base with them that they will need. That's what the rest of government is for. Regardless of who gets in, they will have to rely on the assembled expertise around them to point out the land mines.

There is a lot of confusion both in Canada and the US as to what the President's job is about, and its why the left can't seem to understand that Obama is the wrong man for the position. Obama's skill set is the base kit for the legislative branch of government - Congress - the lawmakers, not the executive branch, the managers.

Presidents don't make laws. They cause laws to be made, but the function of the executive branch is managerial. Day to day oversight of the operation of government, not legislature. This is one of the reasons why senators frequently make lousy presidents, and why most lawyers can't manage either. Its just not their skill set.

This is where many get Gov. Palin wrong on experience. While the scale is different, being a working governor is exactly the skill set needed for the vice-presidential (and presidential) office. Obama's choice of Biden is telling - its a clear indicator that the old guard democratic cabal is in firm control of the democratic campaign. Obama is just a sockpuppet - his skill set is legislative, not executive. He won't be running the oval office, the DNC will.

Contrast this with the McCain/Palin ticket. While McCain will rely on a subset of the GOP to be the GOTOs, McCain and Palin will be the executives. That's the significance, and the importance of the choice of Sarah Palin to be the VP. For Sarah, the job as VP won't be much different than the job of governor - its the skill set she's already acquired, and she brings the "basic training" to the office with her already. The only difference is scale. Her resume for less than 2 years as a governor in Alaska, in terms of what she accomplished in housecleaning the state's legislature, is stunning. As newcomers go, she's a perfect fit, and just what the doctor ordered if the Americans want real change.

And that's why Hillary isn't there - Hillary could not be a sockpuppet for the DNC. The Democratic party is fractured presently, like our Liberals, and until its sorts its house out is not fit to lead; is in fact dangerous if it gets to.

There is a parallel between the Liberal/Democrat situation and the Islamic one. Radical elements in both cases have hijacked the agenda of their respective mainstreams, and in both cases, letting them have the reins of power would be disastrous, because the fringe cannot provide a workable program.

While its fashionable for the frantic left to go on and on about "neo-cons", the reality is they are only a small part of the GOP and have never held power, despite what one thinks of George W. Bush. Neither McCain nor Palin are neo-cons; rather, they are grass-roots conservatives, so the US is not getting a "neo-con" government if they get in. Oddly enough, the Democrats are the true so-cons, steeped still in the old-fashioned aristocracy of the DNC, and that's what the US will get if they elect Obama.

The only thing old about John McCain is his age and body, and really, his platform reflects the wisdom that age brings - of learning how to recognize, embrace and channel the true strength of youth (Palin), which he needs to do because of his age, and the recognition that progress requires many hands lifting, another "benefit" one acknowledges as one get older :).

McCain has chosen his protege, and he will guide her and teach her along the way, eventually handing off the reins. And in the tradition of the ages, the student will teach the teacher, too. Its a succession plan, like all good governance structures must have.

Obama and the Democrats have it exactly backwards. The student is trying to lead and teach the teacher. Its not a succession plan, its a coup, and like most coups, because they are coerced, is doomed to sputter and fail.