If McCain were to have said this about the presidential job would he still be in the race today? When Palin asked the public, “What is it exactly that the vice president does?”, it became apparent that she does not have the correct credentials to become vice president. No less than a month later, she received the vice presidential nominee for the Republican Party. The main reason for the pick was to have someone who would help shake up Washington, D.C., and assist in giving the government back to the people. But let us take a look at how she ran as governor to get a better understanding of how she will put Washington where it needs to be.

An article in the New York Times stated Mrs. Palin began her reign by pushing out those with insider credentials but began creating her own hiring pattern. Instead of hiring those with great qualifications, she surrounded herself with grade school friends and church members. This raises the question of why she would kick out the professionals and hire people like Franci Havemeister, a woman who was appointed the head of the state division of agriculture with her childhood love of cows as a cited qualification for running an approximately $2 million dollar agency. But enough about her cabinet as governor, we should look more at the ideas that she has as a future possible vice president.

On Sept. 13, ABC’s Charlie Gibson interviewed Mrs. Palin. She stated that she was not only ready to be the vice president — assuming she has been filled in on what the vice president does — but also ready to lead the nation if needed. A rather promising start that didn’t follow through well. She spoke of going to war with Russia as well as Iran not as a last resort, but as an American duty. A possibility of war with three countries at one time could just spell disaster for America, especially in our current economic state. It was also revealed that Mrs. Palin has neither met with a foreign head of state nor has been out of the country — excluding Canada, Mexico and a trip to Kuwait and Germany to see wounded troops. Making the possibility of peace from those wars that much more difficult.

Lastly, I would like to bring up the fact that the choice of Mrs. Palin becoming vice president could be a ploy to gain women voters. It would be a travesty if this were true, but even more so if it worked. It should be irrelevant what sex is on the ticket, the only factor that we need to focus on is who will give us what we want out of our government.

Grant Reid

Freshman

Pre-computer science