Alaska, The Eye that Watches Putin’s Incessant Head Rearing

Bob Herbert, a Meyer Berger award winning editor at the New York Times, wrote a recent opinion column, “Palin’s Words Raise Red Flags”, regarding the latest interviews with Sarah Palin, posing the question of whether the vice presidential nominee’s lack of preparedness is an indicator of her absence of qualifications. I can’t help but agree with Mr. Herbert. His article is written for a liberal audience but it appears that some conservatives echo Mr. Herbert's concern as seen in the National Review blog titled “Free Sarah Palin!” by Kathryn Jean Lopez. During her first interview on ABC News with Charlie Gibson, the republican V.P. nominee was asked the question of her take on the Bush Doctrine, a legal pre-emptive attack against a country as long as it has knowledge of an imminent attack, provided a thoroughly nebulous response a first signal to her credibility. Most Americans do not know what the Bush Doctrine is, however most Americans are not in a position of becoming the leader of the free world in an instant. In the most recent interview with Katie Couric, Sarah Palin fumbled through questioning regarding her experience with foreign policies. Mr. Herbert details a transcript of the interview further noting that watching her performance was surreal. The column advocates that her performances in unscripted appearances are great; however under the scrutiny of being interviewed Mrs. Palin appears unqualified. Governor Palin, the self proclaimed “bull dog” hockey mom, needs to analyze the best choice for her answers carefully to at least give the impression of a competent candidate rather than stumble over softball questions tossed by “America’s Sweetheart”.

"Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!"

I find it ironic that the most notorious political consultant in the history of the United States who raised the bar on negative campaigning would be the one who speaks out about his own party’s presidential candidate crossing the line in his recent attack advertisements. In a recent CNN article, Karl Rove assessed the most recent John McCain advertisements as going “…one step too far”. The entire article addresses the recent quote by Karl Rove, the negative campaigning done by both Democrat and Republican parties during this election year, and the current campaign donations received in the month of August. These funds insure that the smear campaigns and mudslinging will continue until the polls are closed in early November.