At the very least she should know the requirements of the job

[Ol JohnnyBoy]

McCain should have gone with Jindal. Should McCain win and thereafter become incapacitated (God forbid), the mere thought of Palin running this country, even briefly, gives me great cause for concern...seriously. I mean bless her heartshe means well but good grief[:@]I think they've coached this poor lady well up to this point but something's still lacking...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqBUbHsr070

[CalHunter]

Somehow I get the feeling you would have found fault with Jindal also.

[Arthur P]

She's completely dominating that interview with Brian Williams that's been running on NBC. McCain's mostly sitting on his thumb, listening to her. I'm beginning to think she's not such an airhead as she's been letting on. Is she not intentionally sabotaging McCain's campaign to let Obama win so he can clean up most of the mess Bush is leaving behind, and then set herself up for a go in 2012?

Better get prepared now.

[ipscshooter]

Yeah, that Olbermann fella is a real "journalist"...

Palin engaged in the following discussion:

The subject of the vice president's duties came up as Palin sat for an interview with KUSA-TV in Denver, which has a feature called "Question from the Third Grade." The interviewer asked, "Brandon Garcia wants to know, 'What does the vice president do?'"


"That's a great question, Brandon, and a vice president has a really great job, because not only are they there to support the president's agenda, they're like the team member, the team mate to that president," Palin said.


"But also, they're in charge of the United States Senate, so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom. And it's a great job and I look forward to having that job," she said.

The Constitution has this to say: "The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided." It does not define what the "President of the Senate" does. There are some "traditions" in this regard, but, I'm not sure she is technically wrong under the Constitution.

Now, here is Olbermann's little rant:

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Governor," Olbermann said. "The correct answer to that question can be found in the Constitution of the United States, Article 1, Section 3."

The constitutional duties of the Vice President entail casting a tie-breaking vote in the Senate, and serving as President should the sitting president become incapacitated, resign or die.

"The Vice President," he added, "is not in charge of jack, Governor, let alone in charge of the Senate. And you are not smarter than a third-grader."

"We're just wrapping up eight years of a vice president who had no clue what his damn job consisted of, [and] couldn't even correctly find his governmental branch with both hands. The last thing anybody in this country wants, Republican or Democrat, is another buccaneer in there making it up as they go along, and presuming, in your case, that you can stride into the Senate and change policy if you want to.

"Besides which, Governor, exactly how on Earth could you not have the correct answer by now? It's not like this is the first time you've been asked about the vice presidency and gone all Miss South Carolina on us!"

"Maybe I'm raising the bar too high," he closed, "but at least I'd wait until you achieve office before trying to seize power extraconstitutionally! The founders, Governor, were not George Bush and Dick Cheney!"

Interesting that in his description of Article I, Section 3, he totally omitted the part about serving as the "President of the Senate." And, the remaining duties of the VP (i.e. the part about serving as the President in the event he dies or is incapacitated) is in Article II, Section 1...

Frankly, the world will be a far, far better place when Olbermann stops using up our oxygen and contributing to global warming with his blathering. Moron.

[Ol JohnnyBoy]

ORIGINAL: CalHunter

Somehow I get the feeling you would have found fault with Jindal also.

Absolutely not. Had McCain chosen Jindal I probably would have supported them.Honestly, I think Jindal will make a good presidential candidate someday (I can see the future).

[stealthycat II]

Obama has looked the fool in quite a few interview himself you know .... and I'm sure Biden has and McCain too

[younggun308]

I think the VP isn't the 101st Senator, but they do negotiate with the Senate on behalf of the White House. They're like an ambassador, if you don't believe that when opposing parties control the executive branch while the other is controlling the legislative branch, that the White House has a huge part in what goes on in Congress, then perhaps a bit of C-SPAN or West Wing would do you some good.

Biden sounds too complacent, he sounds like he's going to be on a 4-year's vacation doing nothing all that time, getting a higher salary. Face it, the guy will be too old to run for President again. He's not even talking about doing anything, unless Obama wants his input. But the Chief of Staff and Defense and State Secretary is where he will be getting that from. Simple as that. Palin at least will be doing something, fighting against Democrats and negotiating in the Senate. That's better use of her time,and frankly I think she'd do well at that, her personality seems to fit that job description.

[Vizsla Vince]

At least McCain's #2 knows how many letters are in the word"JOBS". Biden is a total buffoon. He's having a Dan Quayle "potato(e)"moment once or twice a week. And you guys want to nitpick Palin on VP duties?????

[etothepii]

Oh, shame on her for putting her explanation in terms a third grader could understand.

[Griswold]

ORIGINAL: etothepii

Oh, shame on her for putting her explanation in terms a third grader could understand.

The irony is the 3rd grader probably understood her answer. I don't think Olbermann did.