The Kudzu Gazette: Candidates, Charisma, and Competency: the Vice Presidential Debate

Candidates, Charisma, and Competency: the Vice Presidential Debate

29 Oct 2008

Deciding whom to vote for in this election is not an easy task. Barack Obama possesses the charm and eloquence of a great president but is questioned at every turn about his experience and ability to run the country. John McCain has experience and knowledge, but completely lacks charisma and freshness and is accused at every turn of being just like George Bush. Between them, there’s not a clearly better candidate. However, when you vote, consider that you are responsible for choosing not only the best president, but also the best vice president, who may, if the worst happens, some day be running the country. Obama’s choice of Joseph Biden for Vice President shows better judgment than McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin in terms of Biden’s far greater experience (especially with foreign policy), his moderate and well-thought-out views, and his down-to-earth, no nonsense character.

During the vice presidential debates, Biden was an inspiration to watch while Sarah Palin’s performance was a revelation to most viewers that her leadership abilities are only skin deep. When Biden was asked to explain how he would bring both sides together, he said, “I learned a lesson from Mike Mansfield. Mike Mansfield, a former leader of the Senate· said, ‘Joe, understand one thing. Everyone's sent here [Congress] for a reason, because there's something in them that their folks like. Don't question their motive.’ I have never since that moment in my first year questioned the motive of another member of the Congress or Senate with whom I've disagreed. I've questioned their judgment.” Biden’s comment about respecting other politicians judgment shows he wants a different political landscape from the one Karl Rove and Dick Cheney created that has dominated for the past eight years, which consisted of smearing their opponents’ images with nasty rumors in order to win. In a democracy that is supposed to thrive on free spirited debate and the exchange of ideas, Biden’s open mindedness is like a breath of fresh air after eight years of Bush.

Both vice presidential candidates tried to show that they can bring bipartisanship to Washington, and get things done with politicians from every party. However, actions speak louder than words and in Palin’s case words didn’t even agree with each other. Speaking about her ability to work across party lines, Palin said, “That's what I've done as governor, also, take on my own party, when I had to, and work with both sides of the aisle, in my cabinet, appointing those who would serve regardless of party, Democrats, independents, Republicans, whatever it took to get the job done.” Palin claimed she could work well with all parties, yet when debating issues like taxes with Biden she showed more interest in winning the argument with faulty logic and attractive slogans than compromising, which is key for a democracy to function. Her argument about taxes, if it can be called an argument, stated, “Now you said recently that higher taxes or asking for higher taxes or paying higher taxes is patriotic. In the middle class of America which is where Todd and I have been all of our lives, that's not patriotic.” Palin’s “patriotic” comment in the debate has gone overlooked, but it shows at best a lack of basic common sense to say that taxes are unpatriotic and at worst a willingness to take a complicated issue and make it black and white just so she can win a debate. How can taxes be unpatriotic when they pay for important things like public education, the war in Iraq, social security, and the seven hundred billion dollar bailout plan? Perhaps what she meant to say is that paying taxes isn’t something lots of middle class Americans want to do, but that doesn’t make it unpatriotic to pay your taxes or to raise taxes. If we are to take her literally and seriously, as we should since she is running for the second highest position in the country, she suggested that Biden and Obama and any politician who raises taxes are unpatriotic – that’s not just disrespecting their motives, that’s disrespecting the work they do for their country.

Biden is a far better choice for vice president than Palin also because he has been in office much longer than her and has far more experience, especially in terms of foreign policy. Her only time in office has been two years as governor of Alaska and she thinks that she has foreign policy experience because, quote: “Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country,
Russia, and, on our other side, the land-boundary that we have with Canada.” She couldn’t even name an instance where she actually went to Russia. Compare that to Biden, who has been working as a senator for thirty-six years and has been in office the sixth longest period among current senators. He’s also the chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the committee that leads “oversight over the foreign policy agencies of the U.S. government, including the State Department, the U.S. Agency for
International Development, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the Peace Corps. The Committee reviews and considers all diplomatic nominations and international treaties, as well as legislation relating to U.S. foreign policy.” Biden’s foreign policy experience is desperately needed for the future when we have to deal with Iran developing nuclear weapons and find a way to eventually end the war in Iraq.

Now, it’s obvious that Biden and McCain have experience while Obama and Palin are the fresh faces in politics, but what makes Obama a smart choice for president when he has the same lack of experience as Palin? For one, he clearly is willing to listen and compromise, even with people that most other politicians, including McCain, wouldn’t dare to go near, like the president of Iran, Mr.
Ahmadinejad. McCain is only willing to talk to Ahmadinejad if he meets certain preconditions and plays by the U.S.’s rules, which is of course something an arrogant man like Ahmadinejad won’t do. One of Obama’s strengths, which Biden echoes in his speech about respecting motives, is his ability to treat even the most detestable people on earth like human beings and get things done as a result. Now that’s truly working with the other side, in and outside of politics.

In his first debate with McCain, Obama said, “In North Korea, we cut off talks. They're a member of the axis of evil. We can't deal with them. And you know what happened? They went -- they quadrupled their nuclear capacity. They tested a nuke. They tested missiles. They pulled out of the nonproliferation agreement. And they sent nuclear secrets, potentially, to countries like Syria.” To
McCain supporters I have to ask, what have we accomplished by ignoring our enemies, and even our friends throughout Bush’s term in office? We ignored the United Nations and went to war in Iraq without getting help from other countries, we wouldn’t talk to North Korea or Iran’s leader without preconditions and in spite of our arrogance both of them continued building nuclear weapons. We accomplished relatively nothing in the span of eight years by stubbornly refusing to listen to everyone else, and now you want to continue those policies.

Obama may not have the experience that makes a good president but he has the great common sense and personality to be an amazing president, and he will have Biden to give him advice. Not that John McCain would make a bad president, but he sometimes comes across as being as shortsighted and overconfident as Bush, especially when talking about negotiating with Iran, and Palin shows even less promise of making a good vice president. Obama’s message of change has become a broken record, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a legitimate message full of promise and hope. After eight years of George Bush poorly reflecting on America as a country and destroying our image abroad, I’m ready for Obama, with Biden by his side, to restore America’s pride and dignity by listening to our friends and even our enemies, and hopefully to stop nuclear weapons from falling into the wrong hands without another war. As the phrase goes, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Listening to Obama and Biden speak, I feel their words are a more powerful tool for fighting terrorism and the spread of nuclear weapons than a war could ever be.

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