The Campaign's Handling of Palin's Foreign Policy Experience (Iraq, democrat, president)

[Trevor92]

I think it has been terrible how McCain's campaign has handled the question of Gov. Palin's foreign policy experience. They talk about things like a trip to Ireland where her plane only stopped for gas, they talk about how close Russia is to Alaska, and they talk about her trip to Iraq where she only got to Kuwait. So now people have called them out on it, and they talk about how it's insulting that Gov. Palin's family has been attacked so often being a VP candidate and a mother and the smear tactics used against her.

I should also state that I think the country would be better off if McCain were elected President. But there's no denying that Gov. Palin is probably too inexperienced (as is Obama) and doesn't have much experience, especially in some things such as foreign policy.

But why didn't the campaign pull out some old tapes of how Bill Clinton handled the question? Just say she's commander-in-chief of the Alaska National Guard, talk about some of her foreign policy beliefs where she can be really specific on what she would do if she were ever president, maybe send her over to the UN or over to Britain and France for a day or two, and focus on the fact that Governors have a different set of strengths than Legislators. In other words, turn the question around and focus on the fact that governors balance budgets and run a state economy and do a lot of other things more relevant to the job of being President and focus on John McCain's foreign policy experience as a long-time Senator. Don't just endlessly try to defend her foreign policy experience with this nonsense, because it's a losing battle. Turn the question into a truthful response that has a positive message about her.

Edit after no responses for about 10 mins: This might not create a lot of discussion, but I feel a lot better now that I've gotten that out there!

[domino]

i agree with you totally. Clearly she lacks the experience, why deny it? Find a way to turn the lack of experience into a strength (a clean slate), or divert to other strengths (that may be difficult). What they are trying to feed the American electorate now is an insult to our intelligence.

[Trevor92]

Good points. Yeah, I don't guess there's a lot of talk on it because it's hard to diagree with. There are clearly better ways to answer the question than to try to exaggerate and try to claim foreign policy experience when there is none. It just comes off at too deceitful and she's running on a ticket against a very inexperienced Democrat, so there's just no need for it.

If only I had been in control of how she needed to handle the question! So far, all the strategies that would have worked better than the one they used include:
Turn it into a 'Washington Outsider' and clean slate question.
Divert to other strengths that governors have while touching on the state national guard (as Bill Clinton did) and defer to McCain's strength on the subject and how it balances the ticket.
Do work in the short-term so that she can gain a perception foreign policy experience such as meet other leaders.
Just talk about foreign-policy specifics. You don't have to have experience to have an opinion.

[walidm]

I think they're so caught up in the overwhelming experience of her opposition (for the debate) that the mention of Foreign Policy is one that just shakes them. Whether you support Senator Obama or not, he has traveled the World, been in discussions with World leaders for some years and has a high degree of comfort discussing foreign policy. We know where he stands. Senator Biden goes without saying, he's vocal period. They're scrambling soo hard to shore up the Governor that they didn't plan effectively to turn the perceived weakness into a strength. She may not be as naieve as she appears, but it's a tough hill to climb when folks keep watching you tumble.

[norcalmom101]

It's embarrassing.