There’s no denying that the next president will inherit a great deal of trouble and the responsibility of cleaning it up. The role of the president, especially in recent years, is generally accepted as one of the most stressful jobs in the world, if not the single most stressful job. One question that is quite common to vice presidential candidates in nearly every election is whether the candidate would make a competent president if the responsibility was thrust upon them for whatever reason. Suppose for the sake of argument that John McCain is incapacitated somehow. Is Sarah Palin prepared to be the President of the United States?

This is a question that any conscientious voter should contemplate earnestly. Many people feel that she lacks the experience even for her vice presidential candidacy, and I am inclined to agree. A great many of our congressional members are highly educated. They have spent many years in the study of law, medicine, or what have you. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Harry Truman had no education past high school, while Jimmy Carter graduated from college, and did graduate work in nuclear reactor technology. The former is considered a very successful president, while the latter is generally considered a rather poor president. My problem with Sarah Palin is not necessarily what she did at school or even if she went to school. My problem is that she bounced around no less than four different schools as an undecided major, before finally buckling down and finishing a journalism degree. It is this lack of vision and purpose that I have a problem with.

The vice presidential debate has only reinforced my opinion in this. The leader of our country must have the ability to viscerally move the people. This implies a certain amount of eloquence. Sure, Joe Biden may have said some things that were blatantly incorrect, like the role of the vice president in the legislative process, or even which article of the constitution covers these roles, but hey, at least his speech had some flow to it. Palin’s, however, was largely without rhythm, coming just short of stuttering. This is emphasized by any attempt to read the transcript of the debate, which is rife with sentence fragments and lack of sequence.

Let us assume for a moment, hypothetically, that she does have some sort of vision. Palin spent a great deal of her college years as undecided, without a clear direction. Without this conviction, or ability to follow through, how can she expect to sway Congress, especially a Congress controlled by the opposite party? Really the only way I can see her accomplishing this is by appealing directly to the public for support, and with her public speaking prowess (or lack thereof), I don’t think she would be able to generate the kind of support necessary to influence entrenched legislators. I just don’t believe she would be able to move anything through Congress. Even Joe Sixpack must surely agree that it takes more than a wink from Miss Congeniality to run a country.