America gets lucky

We dodged a bullet, guys. Really. Wasn’t it a relief to wake up Nov. 5 with knowledge that the United States has a vice president who knows the difference between a country and continent?

For the past few months, I have been quite hard on the Republican Party, especially everyone’s favorite governor, Sarah Palin. Now that the whole 2008 election is said and done, I figured I would let the sleeping dog lie-and I will, after today. When politicians lack basic knowledge, it still shocks me. One usually subscribes to the belief that aspiring vice presidents should be smart to help run a country. Shouldn’t we believe that now more than ever? Think about it.

According to a Fox News briefing aired last week on “The O’Reilly Factor,” Palin did not understand that Africa is a continent, not a country, did not know how many countries were in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and lacked basic knowledge about civics and government.

All of this information was said to be “off the record” until after the election. What if Sen. John McCain and Palin had won? Do we want someone who has to help make decisions that will affect all of us to have to sit through fifth-grade geography and government lessons on weekends?

The Republicans ran a bad campaign. That fact is regrettable, especially because when McCain conceded, the country saw a glimpse of the dignified candidate that McCain was before the election began. According to a Nov. 7 article in The New York Times, McCain staffers are blaming outside factors, including Palin, for their loss. This article is not about finger pointing, or even McCain. It is about America avoiding a mess by putting more another unqualified candidate in the White House.

It is now more obvious than ever that Palin is just power hungry. The New York Times stated in the same article that she tried to deliver her own speech before McCain’s concession-something that is not traditional on Election Night. Palin also scheduled and took a prank phone call from Canadian comedian Marc-Antoine Audette that she thought was an interview with French president Nicolas Sarcozy and told them she would make a good president in “maybe eight years.”

When McCain received the presidential nomination, he appeared on “The Daily Show” and announced his vice-presidential pick was going to be Dwight Schrute from “The Office.” Schrute, while wholly fictional, would have been a better vice-president choice than Palin. Also on my better VP list would be Michael Scott, Tracey Morgan’s character on “30 Rock” and Jon Stewart.

No election campaign is ever perfect. There is a reason why campaigns come fully staffed with public resource representatives, spokespeople and even wardrobe staffers-although having strong candidates on the ticket is still crucial.