Palin Is Not Presidential

I saw this Town Hall column by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, and it says exactly what I have been thinking about Sarah Palin.

She should not become a battering ram hammering at liberal critics — getting down into the mud with them — answering every attack, no matter how low, personal or undeserved it is. [Emphasis mine]

Their point is that, as a potential presidential candidate, she should stay above it because it hurts her to get into it, as evidenced by polling data. They don’t want that to hurt her.

I, however, don’t think she can stay above it.

Palin’s national career is characterized by her intentional divisiveness. That is why I stopped liking her almost immediately. From comparing herself to a pitbull to accusing Obama of “palling around with terrorists,” Palin’s rhetoric has been consistently intended to provoke a fight, an us-against-them mentality, right from the beginning.

It’s the president’s job to rise above the fray. Look at the way George W. Bush responded, or I should say didn’t respond, to the awful things said about him, both the true and the untrue. President Obama, too, for the most part, keeps out of it, and has made speeches calling for unity.

I hope Palin’s fighting spirit does hurt her approval rate with the public. I don’t want to see someone like that representing this country as its head.

This country needs and deserves a president who acknowledges that, while disagreeing strongly on some issues, he or she represents all of us.