Since accepting her party’s nomination for vice president, the woman who could be a heartbeat away from a desk in the Oval Office has consented to three interviews and participated in one Town Hall meeting with her running-mate. Sarah Palin’s uninspiring, unconvincing interviews with ABC-TV’s Charles Gibson and CBS-TV’s Katie Couric clearly raised concern among McCain – Palin campaign officials.

Inevitably, Palin will have to answer questions in the field from the media. This week, in a debate with Senator Joe Biden, the Democrats’ nominee for vice president, Palin will be challenged in a relatively uncontrolled format. The McCain Team reportedly changed the rules of the debate to limit, if not eliminate, the opportunity for the candidates to pose questions to each other.

In the aftermath of Palin’s arrival on the national scene, the GOP’s ticket benefited from the expected post-convention bump. But in the face of media scrutiny and unsolicited revelations from some of her home-grown constituents, the early enthusiasm has waned.

I’m sorry, but the ability to see Russia from one of Palin’s Alaskan islands doesn’t qualify as experience in international diplomacy. Syndicated columnist Bob Herbert put it succinctly, “Her (Palin’s) problem (and now ours) is that she is not well versed on the critical matters confronting the country at one of the most crucial turning points in its history.”

Ultimately, I say sorry, Sarah. You need to do much more than meet the age and citizenship requirements to be qualified to be our nation’s vice president.

J. Paul Blake

Renton

J. Paul Blake, former chair of “Go Vote NO” a citizen group that defeated a measure to incorporate the proposed City of Fairwood, is president of the Evergreen Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA). These views are his own.