Palin sends the cringe meter off the dial

[independent_uk]

 No one will be more relieved than John McCain if a major crisis erupts on Thursday to overshadow the debate between the vice-presidential candidates, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden.

Alaska's one-term governor is hugely popular with voters, but she is also a liability for the Republican ticket, as her painful-to-watch interview last week with Katie

Comments

[adamwolf]

To me, Palin represents everything that's wrong with McCain's approach to this campaign. He's been leaning heavily on his experience, on his reputation as a maverick (disproven by the sudden turn in almost every major issue over the last two years, including his stance on the Iraq war) and on the fact that he's a war veteran. It's been all about who this guy is, rather than what he thinks or what he plans to do with this country.
Similarly, picking Palin as running mate, a woman he admits he barely spoke to and knew very little of, reeks of playing for personality points rather than placing an actual agenda and strategy on the table. She's young (as is Obama), she's a woman (as was Hilary) and she can appeal to the christian community that has nothing to admire in McCain himself. But she has no clear concepts of what she's dealing with.

One interesting, but I think very crucial point in breaking down the republican campaign, is the way Palin talks about Russia. There's been enough talk about how Alaska being 'near' Russia isn't enough to make her have experience with foreign politics, but that's not the real issue: the real issue is the villainisation of Russia, and the constant reference to possible threats coming from that corner and how Putin would somehow 'invade' Russia (I'm not quite sure how to take her comments on that, really). In a very unstable world, where most other countries look at the US with open wariness because of its unilateral approach to conflict, the thinly veiled superiority complex of some of its leaders and the irresponsible financial and economic policies of the past eight years leading right up to a global financial crisis; the wisest thing is not to make even more enemies.
That, and Putin isn't the president of Russia anymore. Implying that a fellow democracy with a strong grasp on the world gas and oil supply and a great influence in Europe and Asia, is actually a dictatorship looking for world dominance, is very unwise.
Both McCain and Palin have been making statements about this, and I find it worrisome that these people might be in charge for the next four years, considering the important part the US still plays (but for how long?) on the world stage.

Is she cringe-worthy? She's far, far worse than that: she doesn't have a diplomatic bone in her body.