When a presidential candidate is looking for a vice presidential candidate to run with him, what does he put on the list of qualifications?  I have heard countless political analysts talk about the symbiotic and complementary characteristics that the running mate should have.  They should have strengths where the presidential candidate has weaknesses.

However, there is a list of things that both of the candidates should have in common – ideology, good character, excellent knowledge of domestic and foreign situations, excellent grasp on macro-economics, and proven experience in highly stressful situations where they are forced to make difficult decisions on the fly.

When John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his running mate, I was one of the millions of watchers out there who collectively said – WHO?  My first gut reaction was that he had picked an unknown woman to be – as my father-in-law says – “a token skirt”.  I drew a deep breath and declared the election over and done with.

But over the next week I began to read about the great Sarah Palin – or

Barracuda, if you like.  It seems that she is a highly energetic woman

who has shot to the top of Alaskan politics by running on energy,

honesty, and a campaign of change.  Good for her.  Good for Alaska.  I

began to wonder if I had been to harsh and had judged her too quickly.

I saw the polls begin to shift toward a McCain presidency and wondered

how wrong I was.

Then the dirt began to fly – her daughter’s pregnancy, Trooper-gate

(where’s G. Gordon Liddy?), “What does a vice-president do?” she says,

and her vague tough talk on the economy where she demands that

something needs to be done and they’re the ones to do it.  Whatever

needs to be done is never mentioned, of course, but by God, they’ll get

the job done!

Today her e-mail account was hacked and Alaskan state business e-mails

were posted to a public website.  The hackers didn’t need to wade

through encrypted VPN tunnels, domain authentication, 3DES passwords,

or anything fancy that the Alaskan IT folks have put together.  Why is

that, you ask?  Because the vice presidential candidate was using Yahoo

e-mail to conduct Alaskan government business.

As an IT professional, I am responsible for security on our corporate

network.  I deal with encrypted VPN tunnels, software patching,

encrypted file systems, and everything else that keeps our stuff in and

the bad guys out.  We don’t let our employees use public e-mail systems

from work because of the security risk.  Using a public e-mail system

for business use would be grounds for termination.  But here we have

the proposed vice president of the United States of America using a

public e-mail system for government e-mails.  I personally am in awe

and shock, to borrow another well-worn phrase.

The more I look at Sarah Palin, the more I see how totally unqualified

for the position she is.  With McCain’s age and health, many people say

we need to put added emphasis on the “what if he dies in office”

argument.  I think that argument needs to be weighed heavily for EVERY

vice presidential candidate.  Accidents happen.  People have

unexplained aneurysms and heart attacks.  Planes and helicopters

crash.  Psychos shoot guns.  It is possible that any sitting president

might die in office, not just one who would be starting at 72 years

old.  He would be 76 when he finished his first term and 80 if he was

re-elected, so his death in office would be a morbid consideration

Americans need to consider.

McCain’s death in office would promote Palin to the presidency.  The

woman who can see Russia from an Alaskan island, and claims that as

foreign policy experience, would then be in charge of treaties with

other countries and dealing with heads of state around the world.  They

wouldn’t be lenient on her; they would want specifics on the spot.

When asked about specifics about her grasp of international affairs,

she could only say “I am

prepared…I have that confidence. I have that readiness. And if you

want specifics with specific policies or

countries, you can go ahead and ask me. You can play ‘stump the

candidate’ if you want to. But we are ready to serve.”

I’m not worried about a ‘stump the candidate’ game.  I am worried about

a very serious ‘stump the president of the United States’ when Putin

comes calling, or when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sends his navy out to shoot

at our navy again, or when Hugo Chavez plays games with Cuba again.

Palin’s lack of experience could lead to two things – inaction due to

uncertainty or improper action due to lack of experience but the need

to act.

So, I am left wondering why McCain chose Palin.  Sure, she’s energetic, but is that enough?  I don’t think so.

Mark