Jake Tapper of ABC points out that the Obama campaign needs Hillary Clinton to lead the attack on Sarah Palin. Here are Clinton’s initial comments on McCain’s surprise VP choice:
We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin’s historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain. While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Governor Palin will add an important new voice to the debate.
Perhaps I am politically naïve, but it seems to me that Clinton is way off base with her claim that “We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin’s historic nomination.” Given Palin’s extraordinarily weak credentials for the position — yes, I know she was captain of her high school basketball team — Palin’s selection certainly comes across as a desperate attempt to pander to female voters.
Had Hillary Clinton won the nomination and been elected president, she would have been immensely qualified. Rated one of the nation’s top 50 lawyers when she worked in the private sector, Clinton’s intelligence cannot be questioned. Clinton also was one of the most influential advisers during her husband’s administration. The last eight years, of course, she has served as the junior senator from New York. Clinton accomplished all this — and nearly achieved the presidency — in spite of gender bias.
In contrast, Governor Palin’s strongest credential seems to be that she is female. Her selection reeks of pandering to female voters. Is this really something “we should all be proud of”?
Hopefully, in the coming days, Clinton will shift her tone and state what is obvious: someone who opposes abortion — even in cases of rape or incest — is unfit to serve as vice president, especially when the presidential candidate is a 72-year-old with a history of melanoma. As Al Gore warned in his speech on Friday, over the next four years, the next president may nominate as many as three justices to the Supreme Court. Sarah Palin is grossly unfit for such a responsibility.
Although I did not campaign for her during the primary season (I supported Edwards for the nomination), I credit Clinton with pushing a bold, progressive, domestic agenda during her presidential run. However, given all that is at stake in the coming election, this writer’s future opinion of Senator Clinton will depend largely on how vigorously she attacks Governor Palin. Simply put, Democrats now need Senator Clinton more than ever.
Most Americans know very little about Sarah Palin; their opinions of her will be formed in the coming weeks. As the nation’s highest profile female politician — with a legion of diehard supporters, many of whom are female — Senator Clinton, more than any other single person, has the power to shape Palin’s candidacy.
Republicans, and Palin herself, are trying to frame her candidacy as grabbing the baton from Senator Clinton to “shatter the glass ceiling”. Senator Clinton must set the record straight.
