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The audience chosen for this paper is the American public at large, who are looking forward to hearing from the vice-presidential candidate as to what the Republican Party proposes to do concerning its foreign policy if it wins the election. There are different classes of people who expect a great deal from the vice-presidential candidate in knowing her vision regarding the foreign policy which her party plans to pursue in the event of their winning the election. The American public needs to hear what is in store for them in terms of the foreign policy of the country especially given the economic crisis and lack of credibility the country is suffering from in the current circumstances. Additionally, most developed and developing countries are also concerned about the turn that international politics is going to take once the new government in America is established. They also have expectations from the presidential and vice-presidential candidates to spell out their policies beforehand.
This paper will examine the vice presidential debate between the Republican nominee, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, and Democratic nominee, Joe Biden of Delaware as it appeared in the New York Times of December 01, 2008. The purpose is to ascertain how far Governor Palin was assertive regarding the foreign policy proposals of her party and about how she planned to deal with the several issues that are vital for America’s foreign policy. Most of the debate centered on the subprime crisis and the energy crisis as also the possible bail-out plans in coming to solutions for the several problems being presently faced by the USA.
In examining her campaign, comments are to be made regarding her election efforts in considering the vital issue of America’s foreign policy while she campaigned to be elected as vice president. The American public expected her to show concern about the prevailing crisis in America that would require foreign policy initiatives and to give a critique of the present scenario regarding a foreign policy of the present government. There was a need to address such issues especially because of the looming threat of America’s supremacy being reduced in the global economic front. Governor Palin should be more professional in the Vice Presidential debate about foreign policy, instead of portraying herself as a hockey mom, because as a vice presidential candidate should be more responsible, not just like a next-door neighbor who can go shopping at Wal-Mart together.
Due to the failure of the Bush administration in creating a positive public image the public attention was very high towards the presidential campaigns. People were now interested in seeing what the candidates offered in solving the country’s problems especially because of the several answers expected from them regarding what course of action they intended to adopt in getting out of the mess. Just as Governor Palin has been assertive regarding pushing her state Alaska in international forums, she should have pursued the foreign policy for the entire nation in a similar vein. She ought to have exerted a major part of her efforts in apprising the public regarding the policy measures that would improve the credibility of the nation.
Governor Palin did not convincingly mention the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan which has directly impacted the American population, and it was expected of a vice presidential candidate to be aware of the different aspects of the problems in expressing concern and willingness to find solutions. Fighting terrorism requires collaboration with other countries since terrorism is causing concern to most nations of the world. Consequently, there has to be a well-planned strategy to remove it from the roots in bringing about a long-term and stable solution. Under the circumstances, the candidate was expected to exhibit qualities in having the vision and caliber that can win public hope and confidence for a better future.
She did not exhibit a thorough understanding of international issues nor took initiatives to build bridges and create effective alliances. In this context, Governor Palin, having portrayed herself as a “hockey mom”, who believed more in familiarizing herself with the American public than in showing concern about sorting out international issues, did not do justice to the people. The public was also aware that the solution to the financial crisis lay more in integrating with world economies especially because of the oil crisis and the rapid development of countries such as China India and Brazil.
There was a clear breakdown of this foreign policy debate before the election because both vice-presidential candidates having different opinions regarding the vital issues relating to foreign policy. Despite the adverse public opinion with Iraq, Sarah Palin continued to insist in the debate that it was a good plan and that withdrawal from the country would be tantamount to a white flag of surrender. Regarding Iran, she adopted the extreme opinion in declaring Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as being insane and that the country could not be allowed to even conduct a civilian program of nuclear energy, “Now a leader like Ahmadinejad who is not sane or stable when he says things like that is not one whom we can allow acquiring nuclear energy, nuclear weapons. Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong Il, the Castro brothers, others who are dangerous dictators are one that Barack Obama has said he would be willing to meet with without preconditions being met first” (Transcript, 2008). Such statements are not in keeping with the high standards of tolerance expected from a vice-presidential candidate. Concerning the ongoing war in Afghanistan, she vehemently criticized Obama for being reckless in observing that the US army had killed several innocent civilians. She appeared to be rather unconcerned about the prevailing situation in Afghanistan when she said, “I know that the other ticket opposed this surge, in fact, even opposed funding for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Barack Obama voted against funding troops there after promising that he would not do so” (Transcript, 2008).
On the contrary, the Democrat nominee Joe Biden was more forthright in concluding that Iraq needed to be handled differently now since the country had already suffered too much in terms of the hardships to people as also the huge amounts of money that were being spent on activities that were now being viewed as unconstructive spends. Biden adopted a more practical approach regarding Iran in saying that both countries need to sit on the negotiating table to find solutions instead of creating stalemates. Afghanistan occupied a prime spot for the Democrat candidate because he felt so much needs to be altered in terms of America’s foreign policy towards that country. He said the army needs to adopt more humane procedures to comply with human rights regulations. Both candidates agreed with policies towards Israel and Palin was more concerned about divesting the state of Alaska from the financial responsibilities of investing in Sudan. She gave a very inexperienced opinion about the possession of nuclear weapons by other countries in saying that America must disallow all those nations in this regard that are controlled by dictators and who are not on good terms with this country. This is a rather off-the-hook statement that lacks the maturity expected of an American Vice President because such objectives are better achieved by way of diplomatic efforts and negotiations.
During the debate, she had the opportunity to establish her positive image in this regard, albeit hidden under the lipstick-wearing hockey mom, in having the potential of being a true world-class leader. She should have exhibited more interest in matters relating to Iraq and could have won the attention of the public by showing her concern for the 9/11 attacks. In talking about certain issues such as Sunnis and Shias and other issues relating to the Muslim world she could have indicated her interest and knowledge about Islam thus increasing confidence amongst the public. She did not show much interest in talking about the peace process between Israel and Palestine and in bringing about a two-state solution.
It is known that over forty percent of the world’s population lives in China and India, yet she made no reference to these countries nor she referred to the fact that these countries could be potential partners in being the two fastest developing countries in the world. Governor Palin acted in a very unprofessional manner by not giving much emphasis on foreign policy matters during her election campaign.
It can be concluded that Governor Palin did not exhibit the maturity and farsightedness in meeting the expectations of the American public in giving them a ray of hope about the solution of several of the country’s problems that had a direct bearing on the foreign policy to be pursued by the. She appeared to be more concerned about improving her popularity within the country but failed to realize the potential for her success by addressing the foreign affairs issues. The Vice-presidential debate between Governor Palin and Democratic nominee Joe Biden failed to arrive at a consensus primarily due to the failure in deciding a common agenda about the foreign policies to be implemented in the future. Foreign policy measures now occupy a very significant place in the agenda of the government and it was expected of Governor Palin to convince the public about her constructive plans to steer America out of the present crisis. She did not adopt any specific ethical practices in pursuing the cause of foreign policy initiatives for the nation. It was perhaps due to such attitude that she could not win the election.
References
Transcript: The Vice-Presidential Debate, 2008. Web.
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