National Review’s morning email “Morning Jolt” included this:
Dick Cheney: Well, That Sarah Palin Was No Me
Dick Cheney probably won’t make the Palins’ Christmas Card list this year.
Cheney would not comment on what he told Romney and Myers, but he was harsh in his assessment of McCain’s decision to pick Palin.
“That one,” Cheney said, “I don’t think was well handled.”
“The test to get on that small list has to be, ‘Is this person capable of being president of the United States?'”
Cheney believes Sarah Palin failed that test.
“I like Governor Palin. I’ve met her. I know her. She’s an attractive candidate. But based on her background, she’d only been governor for, what, two years. I don’t think she passed that test…of being ready to take over. And I think that was a mistake.”
Cheney is right about it being mishandled, but the mishandling wasn’t the choice for VP but how the John McCain staff bungled Sarah Palin’s prep. Palin wasn’t seeking national office so she needed to be brought up to speed on national issues, something that’s completely possible in a short amount of time. I wrote about as it was happening: “Preparing Sarah Palin: First, fire all the consultants.”
Back in 1999 some of us were very concerned about George W. Bush’s mere 4+ years as governor of Texas, a state where most of the power is in the legislature and less in the governor’s office than most states. With how ‘W’ made some key decisions, and what his Karl Rove “architected” administration produced (Barack Obama), I’d say Cheney is looking at the wrong characteristic in a candidate. The problem isn’t time in office, it is judgment.
NR’s Morning Jolt also quoted Melissa Clouthier who disagrees with Cheney’s take: “In fact, in one of the most atrocious presidential campaigns ever, @SarahPalinUSA was the bright spot.”
And NR’s own Greg Pollowitz: “If Palin wasn’t on the ticket, she would’ve wowed with a regular convention speech & she’d probably be the nominee now.”
And good for Liz Cheney, who also disagreed: “Rarely do I disagree with the best Vice President ever but Sarah Palin was more qualified than Obama and Biden combined. Huge respect for all she’s done for the GOP.”
