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Shortly after the announcement that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had selected Sarah Palin as his running mate, Democrats began questioning the Alaska governor’s ability to step in as president. “Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency,” said Bill Burton, a spokesman for Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.). “Gov. Palin shares John McCain’s commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush’s failed economic policies — that’s not the change we need, it's just more of the same.” Democrats also wasted no time bringing up that Palin is under investigation for her firing of a state official. “Sarah Palin is inexperienced, unethical, and wrong on all the issues that Americans care about,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) on MSNBC. “Do we have confidence that if, God forbid, something happened to John McCain that Sarah Palin is going to know what to do and is going to have her hand on the tiller of America's foreign policy? What makes her ready to be commander in chief?” Wasserman Schultz pointed to the probe of Palin and sought to tie her to other Alaskans under investigation. “There has been a culture of corruption [in] Alaska. Sen. Ted Stevens, Congressman Don Young, Gov. Sarah Palin — they are all cut from the same cloth,” Wasserman Schultz stated. The McCain campaign immediately blasted Democrats for bringing up the Alaska investigation, saying Palin “did nothing wrong and has nothing to hide.” “It’s outrageous that the Obama campaign is trying to attack her over a family issue. As a reformer and a leader on ethics reform, she has been happy to help out in the investigation of this matter, because she was never directly involved,” the McCain campaign stated. “Her sister’s former husband was a state trooper and several years ago was suspended from duty after making threats and using a Taser on his stepson. One of her staff members did talk about this episode with the office of public safety, but the governor was not aware of his actions. He was wrong to do so and was later suspended for it.” Lawmakers approved $100,000 to conduct the investigation, which may pick up steam weeks before the November elections. Meantime, Obama and his running mate Sen. Joseph Biden (Del.) stayed above the fray and congratulated Palin. “It is yet another encouraging sign that old barriers are falling in our politics,” the Democrats said in a statement. “While we obviously have differences over how best to lead this country forward Gov. Palin is an admirable person and will add a compelling new voice to this campaign.” |
