by bush that anybody, regardless of knowledge, ability, or intelligence, can now be considered for the job. I think the concept that anybody can grow up to be president has been greatly misinterpreted by a lot of people. It's not supposed to mean that anybody can be president in the same way that anybody can win the lottery, it's supposed to mean that you don't have to be from the ruling class or be wealthy to become president.

The job of president, if we want it done correctly, demands great skills. Just being a "regular mom" or a "maverick" (even if both of those were true) is not enough reason to be elected. If you have a firm understanding of the issues, and you can analyze complex problems, and you are knowledgeable about things like finance, technology, the constitution, health care, education, the environment, and the issues facing other countries in the world that we interact with, and you can work with other people and can quickly adapt to unexpected situations, and you are a regular mom or a maverick, then that's great.

Common sense (and I'm not conceding that Palin exhibits that) is great for solving common problems. The nation faces problems that are not simple, and require more than just a tax cut to fix. We now have a president that meets none of the above criteria, and revels in the fact that he is not curious about anything and instead relies on his instincts, and the result has been things like a disastrous invasion and occupation (I will NOT call it a war); an economy on the brink of a collapse that may only be prevented by a massively costly program that nobody really wants; virtually no response to a climate that is changing far more rapidly that at any time in history; bungled responses to natural disasters like Katrina; the loss of respect everywhere in the world; the dismantling of the constitution, just to name a few.

I don't understand why people wanted (allegedly) to elect a president that they could have a beer with (especially considering Bush doesn't drink anymore). Now some of them want a person who has spent about the same amount of time learning about how the world works as they have - which is to say no time at all - to be VP, and potentially, president. Do they really think the job is that easy? That you don't have to understand all those complex issues? Can we afford to hire somebody who says they will learn on the job? Was there nobody else in the Republican party who might have been more knowledgeable?

Republicans hate it when people talk about "knowledge", "facts", or "understanding of the issues". That's all elitist talk and doesn't hold water in their book compared to the received wisdom they get from their guts.

It's to bad your buddy Barney Frank didn't have "knowledge" or understanding.... or upper teeth.

moose:

It's to bad your buddy Barney Frank didn't have "knowledge" or understanding.... or upper teeth.

Thank you for proving my point.

"Bush doesn't drink anymore"

Are we sure of this? Remember how wasted he looked at the Games?

I put "allegedly" in the wrong space. I meant to say " he (allegedly) doesn't drink anymore".

I think he does. He should say that he does, at least then he would have an excuse for all of the horrible decisions he has made.

At this point, does it really matter?

The guy could hold a press conference while doing shots of tequila and I don't it would drive his approval rating any lower that it already is.