Palin Tried to Bluff Her Way Through the Bush Doctrine

Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 11:16 am

In her first solo network television interview Sarah Palin appeared clueless when asked about the Bush Doctrine by ABC’s Charlie Gibson. When Palin was asked about the Bush Doctrine, she appeared not to know what it was.

Here is the video:

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Palin had to ask what respect of the Bush Doctrine Gibson was talking about, then went off the rails with this riff, “I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic extremism. Terrorists who are hellbent on destroying our nation. There have been blunders along the way, though, there have been mistakes made. And with new leadership- and that’s the beauty of American elections of course and of democracy- is with new leadership comes opportunity to do things better.”

Gibson with his succinct answer proved himself more prepared to be vice president than the Republican nominee. Could somebody please tell me how a Republican running for vice president does not know what the Bush Doctrine is? Nobody should expect her to be an expert, but this is the fundamental tenant of the foreign policy of the United States for the past 6 years.

Palin looked like a kid taking an oral exam who was trying to bluff her way through a question. She had no idea, but she guessed that it had something to do with terrorism, so she veered off in that direction. I guess Republicans can flush those commercials touting Sarah Palin’s national security experience down the drain. I now understand why the McCain campaign keeps her hidden. She doesn’t know anything.

She is pretty much what one would expect. She seems to be a political talent, but
an absolute novice on the national stage, and a blank slate on the issues. The McCain campaign has a whole lot of work to do if they are going to get her ready to debate Joe Biden. Maybe, she can just repeat part of her stump speech as an answer to every question during the debate. I don’t fault Palin because if I was an obscure governor, I would jump at the chance to run for vice president too, but she isn’t ready, and there is too much time left in the campaign for her to bluff her way through it.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association