McCain V.P. pick younger, less experienced than Obama
Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say. (PHOTO CREDIT: AP PHOTO)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
All we have heard from John McCain for months is, "Barack Obama is too young. Barack Obama is too inexperienced to be commander-in-chief. Who do you want answering the phone in the White House at three a.m.? Blah, blah, blah."
So what does McCain do? He picks someone to be his running mate who is even younger than Barack Obama and has less experience.
Sara Palin is 44 – Obama is 47. Sara Palin is in her first term as governor of Alaska, a state that has 13 people and some caribou. Obama is a member of the United States Senate from Illinois.
It's not a big deal, except for this: If McCain wins, he will be the oldest person ever inaugurated for a first term at 72. He has a history of health problems that include bouts of melanoma, a potentially deadly form of skin cancer. It is reasonable to consider that McCain's running mate could be called upon to be our president.
Watch: Cafferty: McCain's VP mistake?
Meanwhile, some may see this as a move for McCain to attract disaffected women who voted for Hillary Clinton and aren't yet behind Obama. But that might not work for a few reasons: Palin, like McCain, is pro-life. Also, she might be a woman, but she's no Hillary Clinton – when it comes to her experience or her ideology.
At some point, voters will have to ask themselves who they would want running the country if it ever became necessary: Joe Biden or Sarah Palin.
Here’s my question to you: Does John McCain undercut his own message by naming someone even younger and more inexperienced than Barack Obama to be his running mate?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
How can GOP top Dems convention?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The Democrats went out with a bang last night at Invesco field, and may have ended the week with one of the best political conventions ever. This also means they've left John McCain and the GOP with one tough act to follow when they convene in St. Paul on Monday.
Although it's pretty hard to argue that the week wasn't a hit, Republicans were quick to dismiss Barack Obama's speech in front of nearly 90,000 people last night. McCain called it "misleading" and "fundamentally at odds" with his "meager" record. McCain insists despite all the hoopla, Obama is still not ready to be president. it will be interesting to see if he keeps making that argument now that he's named Sarah Palin, a first-term governor from Alaska who's younger than Obama and has even less experience, as his V.P.
Republicans may also have to contend with Hurricane Gustav, which is on track to hit the Gulf Coast and maybe even New Orleans, next week. Some Republican officials are considering delaying the start of the convention, and the White House has also been debating whether President Bush should cancel his appearance Monday. Three years after Hurricane Katrina, the image of Republicans celebrating their nominee with another potentially deadly storm looming could be a disaster for the party. However, the convention president insists that the gavel will go down Monday.
Here’s my question to you: What do Republicans have to do at their convention to top the Democrats?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
67 days to go, what should Obama do to win?
Obama's campaign is encouraging his supporters to reach out to unregistered voters.(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
"We are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look just like the last eight."
And with that, Barack Obama accepted his party's nomination in front of 84,000 people in Denver, Colorado. It was the climax to a political convention unlike anything anyone's ever seen before.
To the relief of many Democrats, Obama ripped into his rival John McCain, painting him as out of touch with ordinary Americans, "It's not because John McCain doesn't care... it's because John McCain doesn't get it." Obama described his own upbringing by a single mother and grandmother, food stamps, student loans, etc. – saying "I don't know what kind of lives McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine."
He referenced McCain's famous temper, saying he's ready to debate McCain on who has the temperament, and judgment, to be commander in chief. The crowd ate it up.
But the Democratic convention is now over and Obama and Joe Biden have just 67 days to close the deal with voters. They started today with a bus tour of the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan.
Obama's campaign encouraged his supporters to text message friends and call thousands of unregistered voters. The campaign says it's identified 55 million unregistered voters across the country – including about 8 million blacks, 8 million Hispanics, and 7.5 million people between the ages of 18 to 24. These Americans could elect our first African-American president.
Here’s my question to you: In the final 67 days, what does Barack Obama have to do to win the White House?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
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