How they see us: Is Palin ready to lead the world?

Why Sarah Palin?
(Image credit: AP Photo)

Sarah Palin could not have arisen in any country but the U.S., said Janice Turner in Britain’s The Times. It’s not just that the Republican vice presidential candidate is a gun-toting moose hunter or an evangelical creationist opposed to abortion, two female types in short supply in Europe. It’s her feistiness. “American women such as Mrs. Palin—whatever their politics—exhilarate with their sense of limitless opportunity, their unquestioning can-do.” This vim comes partly from their unbridled, not to say unwarranted, self-confidence. “Not overburdened with self-doubt or introspection, they plough on.” What a sight to behold!

“But the Sarah Palin Story is not just a show,” said Alice Miles, also in The Times. Her breathtaking political incorrectness is certainly entertaining—this is a woman who wants to drill for oil in the parks and kill polar bears. But her utter lack of qualification for high office is not amusing; it’s frightening. Does anyone believe that a woman who was mayor of a tiny Alaska town and then governor of that virtually empty state for 20 months is ready to step into the most powerful job on earth? “They call it feminism, but the Republicans have done women a disservice. They have selected a female candidate who is a cartoon,” and her candidacy may well end up looking like “a joke.”

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