by Mark Silva
John McCain and Sarah Palin like to cite the five former secretaries of state who have endorsed McCain's candidacy for president - their response to the endorsement that former Secretary of State Colin Powell gave Barack Obama.
One of them is Lawrence Eagleburger, who served but a month as secretary at the end of President George H.W. Bush's term and served as undersecretary throughout his term
But Eagleburger, it turns out, may only have warmed up to half the Republican Party's ticket. In an interview yesterday with National Public Radio, Eagleburger was asked if Palin is ready to step in during a time of crisis.
"It is a very good question," he said, pausing a few seconds, then adding with a laugh: "I'm being facetious here. Look, of course not."
"I don't think at the moment she is prepared to take over the reigns of the presidency,'' he said. "I can name for you any number of other vice presidents who were not particularly up to it either. So the question, I think, is can she learn and would she be tough enough under the circumstances if she were asked to become president, heaven forbid that that ever takes place?
"Give her some time in the office and I think the answer would be, she will be [pause] adequate. I can't say that she would be a genius in the job. But I think she would be enough to get us through a four year... well I hope not... get us through whatever period of time was necessary. And I devoutly hope that it would never be tested."
He spoke as part of an NPR series called Make the Case for the candidates. The solid McCain supporter made half a case. Hear his Palin assessment at the Huffington Post.
Comments
If you believe Palin is not ready, You must be living in LA LA land to think Obama is ready. I think Obama supporters are so desperate that they look at Obama through rose colored glasses. They have lost all sense of reasoning, logic, and are willing to sacrifice morals in their desperation.
Posted by: LM | October 31, 2008 12:15 PM
LM:
Eagleburger is a McCain supporter.
Posted by: a blinkin | October 31, 2008 12:32 PM
Shouldn't "I don't think at the moment she is prepared to take over the reigns of the presidency" be "reins"?
Posted by: dada | October 31, 2008 3:40 PM
As usual, the Swamp is concealing, not revealing, the news. Eagleburger's response to the above story has been out for a while, and can be seen at:
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3173989&referralPlaylistId=949437d0db05ed5f5b9954dc049d70b0c12f2749
Among other things Eagleburger called Obama's foreign policy comments "stupid" and thinks Palin is more qualified than Obama.
No wonder the Swamp reporter censored these remarks.
The Tribune is still good for lining a birdcage. It's just worthless as a news source.
Posted by: Ex-Democrat | October 31, 2008 9:20 PM