Palin Is Ready? Please.

Fareed, your points are one the money. Sarah should quit right now for the country's sake,

Mr. Zakaria,
Thank you for finally pointing out the obvious truth. I think the selection of Palin shows that McCain utterly disrespects American voters and believes that we are a nation of Homer Simpsons.
Leonid Grigorian, Camarillo, CA

seems to me Ronald Reagan had the same limitations Palin has--lack of curiosity, black-and-white worldview, and limited intellectual powers. Wait, that describes George Bush, too. But Reagan was good at reading the cue cards, and his BS sounded a little less like Miss Teen South Carolina. So now he's remembered as some sort of genius, rather than as the narrow-minded disaster who put us on the messed-up road we're still on. Bush, who's no good at on-camera BS, gets labeled the disaster he is. Why do we keep making the same mistakes?

Zakaria- Excellent article! Thank you for speaking the truth to the American people. Anyone who thinks Palin is qualified to be VP/ one heartbeat away from the Presidency must be putting their head in the sand. My friend is Palin's cousin and he won't even vote for her! To those people who are unwilling to admit the obvious and make up some nonsense that everyone should believe in one religion or should have an American name, let me remind them that our Constitution allows for freedom , separation between Church and State and no one except for the Native Americans were here from day one. We all immigrated over here for a better life from other countries. This is a time to come together as Americans, do what is right for our Country and end prejudice once and for all.

Zakaria- Excellent article! Thank you for speaking the truth to the American people. Anyone who thinks Palin is qualified to be VP/ one heartbeat away from the Presidency must be putting their head in the sand. My friend is Palin's cousin and he won't even vote for her! To those people who are unwilling to admit the obvious and make up some nonsense that everyone should believe in one religion or should have an American name, let me remind them that our Constitution allows for freedom , separation between Church and State and no one except for the Native Americans were here from day one. We all immigrated over here for a better life from other countries. This is a time to come together as Americans, do what is right for our Country and end prejudice once and for all.

Since the comparison has already been made, the biggest difference between Palin and Obama is that he is smart. Smart is generally a good thing and can make a big difference with complicated issues and making decisions. Lots of employers even try to hire smart people because it can help their business do better, particularly in executive positions (those that are responsible for running the company). We need a smart president for a while because America is facing some tough times. After that we can have another Republican. As for Palin, after the election I'm sure she will be hired as the chief executive of a Fortune 500 company, perhaps HP. So her fans need not worry. However, I suspect she would be better suited working on a farm applying lipstick to pigs.

Sarah Palin is a fraud. She was pregnant before she got married, her 19 year old son is rumored to have serious drug problems, her 17 year old unwed daughter is pregnant, and she has used her political power to get even with people who disagree with her, yet all she talks about is being a "good Christian" and doing God's will. As a Christian she is a hypocrite who can not walk her talk, and as a politician she is completely unqualified to be Vice President. Her interview with Katie Couric showed her to be a woman with a disorganzied mind, a woman who is in over her head, utterly unprepared for the twist her fate has taken. Even committed Republicans who support McCain have to ask themselves if they really would take the risk of putting our country into Palin's hands.

Why did we have to wait for Tina Fey to deliver on Palin? If Palin gets in, it is the faults of the millions of cowards who could have spoken up a LOT earlier. Shame, shame, shame.

Simply put - BRAVO!!

Had McCain selected a competent running mate, he _might_ have had a chance!

Double-digit lead in the post-VP debate poles (in Ohio!)?

For the Barack bashers - sorry Bubba, Palin makes Dan Quayle look like a Rhodes scholar - clueless, fearful of witchcraft(!), even further divorced from reality than Sen. McCain vs. Barack Obama, editor of the Harvard Law Review (one of the signal achievements possible for young scholars), who suffers from over-coherence (AKA - thinking deeply and well) rather than the _incoherence_ of the lost generation of Republicans - yes, 2 of 3 current candidates are qualified to be president (Sorry JM - you political whoring rules you out too!)

What depresses me, however is that Obama has found the passion - and doing so has allowed his campaign to descend into mud-wrestling, trade-a-lie-for-a-lie same-old-same-old disgusting politics. He never needed to.

To zqll, MotherLodeBeth and other GOP worshipers, who feel you are on solid ground pointing out Palin has as much experience as Obama. It's not just experience we need. You idiots voted in Bush twice and he's proven to beyond incompetent AND was a govenor of a state.. maybe 50 maybe a hundred times larger than Alaska? The real issue that that one needs the mental acuity and curiosity to tackle very complex issues that the US faces. Barak is very sharp. He can go toe to toe with Putin. Palin can't. Bush can't. McCain has proven to be too risky.

First, congratulations Mr. Zakaria on your insightful and thought provoking program on CNN. Your questions always evoke the most considered responses from the guests appearing on your show. Now, on to the topic of Sarah Palin's readiness to be Commander in Chief, I agree wholeheartedly that, based on her performance thus far, she is not. Moreover, I believe that Gov. Palin has become the victim of a political charade constructed by John McCain to cast a web of deception and win the power of the WH.

I believe that under other circumstances, Gov. Palin may well have developed the foreign and domestic bona fides over the next 4 or 8 years to easily pass the Commander in Chief test. However, as things are now, she is merely a spectacle, a humorous anecdote on the road to the Nov. 4 elections. Her future political prospects have been squandered on a political gamble. Her credibility both in Alaska and the lower 48 has been lost. And that, in my view, is unforgivable.

Whatever criticism that can be leveled agains Palin can be leveled against Obama in spades. Obama takes a trip to Europe, meets some European leaders and according to his backers he has now gained some foreign policy experience? Gimme a break!
Obama would have had us out of Iraq by now regardless of conditions on the ground and Iraq would have gone to hell in a hand basket. That is why a terrorist group like Hamas sees Obama as a "useful idiot" and supports him for the presidency.

The following comes from pagamasmedia.com dated May 15, 2008 - by Steve Gill:

"A few weeks ago, Ahmed Yousef, a top political adviser for terrorist group Hamas, said in an interview on TheWABC radio in New York that the group supports Obama. ???We like Mr. Obama. We hope he will (win) the election and I do believe he is like John Kennedy, great man with great principle, and he has a vision to change America to make it in a position to lead the world community but not with domination and arrogance,??? Yousef explained. Hamas, which seized control of the Palestinian Gaza last June, has long been designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department."
"The Obama campaign has claimed to be ???flattered??? by the fact that the Hamas endorsement compared their candidate to Kennedy. Obama himself told the Atlantic magazine that he understands why Hamas would support him. ???It???s conceivable that there are those in the Arab world who say to themselves, ???This is a guy who spent some time in the Muslim world, has a middle name of Hussein and appears more worldly and has called for talks with people, and so he???s not going to be engaging in the same sort of cowboy diplomacy as George Bush.??????
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It's no surprised that Zakaria has not commented on Obama's lack of knowledge, understanding and concern that Hamas is a terrorists organization nor commented on the fact that Obama shares and sympathizes with Hamas' view concerning Bush's diplomacy concerning the terrorist group Hamas. It is no surprise because Zakaria shares the same views toward Hamas as his bud Obama does.
Shameful!

With all do respect to all who is posting here...What does Sarah Palin's experience (or lack there of) have to do with Obama. Why is it that the only way anyone can defend Palin is to discount Obama? Listen, no one can deny the contribution that McCain has made to this Country, but please...Sarah Palin is not the best that the Republican Party could do for a running mate for Senator McCain. It is unprecedented that a Presidential Candidiate choose a running mate that he did not adequately vet and then deny the press access to that running mate. Since we only have the three interviews to judge Palin on, I would say that he did choose someone who is not qualified to be the VP. Her record does not matter, she can't form an intelligent opinion by herself!!! That is scary. Even if you don't like Obama (yes, I support him but thought that McCain won the debate) you can't deny that he is informed about world issues. The candidates just do not degree. That is usually what happens when people are on opposing sides. But back to Palin...I consider her an embarrassment to the Republican ticket and I fault McCain for making such a poor choice in running mate. While she energized the GOP for a couple of weeks she can not fool everybody all the time. She gives a great speech but when she has to think on her own, she hurts McCain way more than she could ever help him. And that is a fact.