Posted on Sun, Sep. 7, 2008
Head Strong: Nobody's asking the right question about Palin
It isn't: Is she qualified on Day One?
By Michael Smerconish - Daily News
Daily News Opinion Columnist
The morning after Barack Obama's historic speech at Invesco Field, I was reading glowing newspaper reviews as I ate breakfast at a counter in Denver International Airport. They confirmed my opinion that the night before, I had witnessed history.
Suddenly, a hush came over the room when a television monitor reported that John McCain had selected Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Around me, Democratic activists began to hum. Their buzz soon turned into a group snicker.
I went back to my newspaper. In USA Today, Ken Duberstein, onetime chief of staff to President Reagan, was quoted as saying that McCain needed to nominate a vice president whom Americans could immediately believe ready to take over as president. "This is not the time for on-thejob training," he said.
Too bad McCain didn't read this before he made the selection, I muttered to myself. Instead of enlisting Joe Lieberman's knowledge of the Middle East, Tom Ridge's expertise on terrorism, or Mitt Romney's understanding of the economy, McCain had gone with the Alaskan equivalent of the mayor of Doylestown, I thought.
By the time I arrived in Minneapolis-St. Paul, revelations about the vetting process made the pick seem even worse. How could a 72-year-old presidential candidate select a running mate with whom he had one extended, face-to-face conversation? The Internet buzzed with rumors far more insidious than the pregnancy of a 17-year-old daughter, and odds-makers started speculating as to whether Palin would be replaced.
Among the media Wednesday night, there was a sense of Schadenfreude as I walked into the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul to see the next scene in what was unfolding as some kind of cross between the movie Dave, starring Kevin Kline, and Reese Witherspoon's performance in Election. GOP delegates whom I interviewed in the concourse were by now well-schooled in the sound bites they'd been fed by the party during the convention or by conser vative talk show hosts. They were already Palin disciples. I remained dubious.
Which is when I ran into David L.
Cohen, executive vice president of Comcast and former chief of staff to Mayor Rendell. David is one of the most politically astute individuals anywhere. When our talk turned to Palin, Cohen told me that he had just entertained Alaska's governor at the brand-new Comcast Center.
In July, Palin was in Philadelphia to attend a reception during the Na tional Governors Association's annu al meeting. Cohen said he first saw her standing on the 43d floor, hold ing newly born Trig. Talk about calm before the storm. Cohen ended up giving Palin a tour of the building.
I asked him for a firsthand assess ment of the woman few have met who was about to make her speech at the RNC.
"Having met her, having met John McCain on a number of occasions, I understand why he chose her," Co hen said. "He sees a lot of him in her. She's a blunt speaker. She's very direct. She's got guts. She's tough as nails."
For the first time in two weeks, I wasn't being fed talking points. Cohen, a Democrat who has rubbed shoulders with every political player on a state and national level, was telling me there was a very special quality in the candidate about to take the stage. Until then, I had not contemplated that a gun-toting hockey mom from the Last Frontier could justify the GOP's sudden and intense enthusiasm.
Now, we've all seen what Cohen glimpsed. Sarah Palin walked into the most heated, pressure-packed situation imaginable and delivered a stem-winder speech that rocked what could have been an uninspired convention.
Which is not to say that one speech can answer the legitimate questions that have been raised about this candidacy. The notion that the former Mayor of Wasilla might not be ready to be vice president is a valid one.
But something else Cohen told me that night resonated. He reminded me that he and Ed Rendell had questioned the bona fides of another small-state governor who had exploded out of nowhere and onto the national political scene - Bill Clinton.
When it comes down to it, Cohen told me, nobody's really ready to be president - or even mayor of Philadelphia - before they're elected.
"And the question that should be being asked is not: ‘Is Sarah Palin qualified to be president of the United States on Day One?' I mean, I hate to say this, I think the answer to that question is probably obviously she isn't," Cohen said.
"But that's not the right question.
The question is: Does she have the capacity based upon her experience and her background to grow into a position where she could be an effective president if she's called upon to be president of the United States?' And I think at a minimum, that's a much closer question than the question other people are asking."
This much I think we learned: Sarah Palin has the capacity to be president.
Michael Smerconish's column appears Thursdays in The Daily News and Sundays in Currents. He can be heard from 5 to 9 a.m. weekdays on "The Big Talker," WPHT-AM (1210). Contact him via the Web at http://www.mastalk.com.
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