Palin Camp: "She was explaining in terms a third-grader could understand"

[sabra]

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/22/palin-takes-heat-for-saying-vp-in-charge-of-the-senate/

Palin takes heat for saying VP 'in charge' of the Senate

(CNN) – Sarah Palin is taking heat Wednesday for appearing to overstate the role of vice president, saying in a recent interview that she would be "in charge of the Senate" should John McCain win the White House.

The comments came in an interview with Colorado TV station KUSA in response to a third-grader's question, "What does the Vice President do?”

"{T}hey’re in charge of the U.S. 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," she said.

...

Maria Comella, a spokeswoman for Palin, said the Alaska governor was simply answering the question in a way a third-grader could understand.

"Governor Palin was responding to a third grader's inquiry," she said. "She was explaining in terms a third-grader could understand that the vice-president is also president of the U.S. Senate."

[ErinBerin84]

1. sad

misinforming a whole generation of third graders is more like it.

[Colobo]

2. She basically then told the 3rd grader erroneous info.

[Merlot]

3. Can a 3rd grader understand misinformation?

If that third grader gets a test with the question "what does the VP do?" they will get it wrong if they believed palan.

[MercutioATC]

4. Ntot true. She's been intentionally blurring the line between the Executive and the Legislative

from the beginning.

[ErinBerin84]

8. exactly....she could almost get away with it if not for her past answers.

I had seen her warped VP answers to Larry Kudlow and during the debate, but the one that KO showed from Fox last night scared me even more....she REALLLY REALLY thinks that there is a lot of flexibility.....

[Wolfies Revenge]

5. bwahahahahaha! How PATHETIC AND DESPERATE!

[yardwork]

6. Couldn't she have simply told the truth in words a 3rd grader would understand?

For instance, "The vice president helps the president do his job, which is to run the country and keep you safe." This would have been a typically Republican response. Palin failed.

[pdxmom]

7. A third grader understands "policy changes"?? This doesn't come

close to passing the smell test. Being wrong does not equal talking in a simple manner.

[radfringe]

9. as a rule 3rd graders don't vote... however

if by 3rd grader they are refering to the mccain-palin supporters....they have a low opionion of their base

heh...VP job - so easy a cavewoman could do it?

[Indenturedebtor]

55. Here's some data on those supporters

1996
"Physical Assessment: The Pharmacist and the Self-medicating Patient," Drug Newsletter
About 20% of the US population are functionally illiterate; for some subsets of our population, that rises to 40%.

1999

Education levels in the U.S.
About one in every four Americans (25%) is a high school dropout

http://www.informatics-review.com/FAQ/reading.html

[npincus]

10. How's this, Sarah:

"There are 100 Senators. If half of them vote "Yes" and the other half vote "No" on a bill, who is going to break the tie vote? It would be me, the Vice President! That is my job, according to our Consitituion. You betcha!".


I believe my 6-year old, in first grade, could understand the above. Palin's blizzard of words did not correctly answer the question. It could have been answered correctly very simply.

[AtomTan]

38. By the way, I have a 3rd grader at home. And he thinks Palin is an idiot.

sorry, posted in wrong spot.

[npincus]

48. LOL- works for me!

I'm not sure my kid knows who Palin is... she knows Obama (calls him "Mo-rock" Obama) and McCain. I like that she sees a woman aspiring to such a position... that's enough, from my point of view. She doesn't have to know she's dumber than a bag of bricks.

Your child sounds very astute!

[Schema Thing]

11. What, a 3rd grader can't understand "if McCain bites it, I'm the Prez"?

[justiceischeap]

12. And even in those terms she still got the meat of the argument wrong. (eom)

[EstimatedProphet]

13. Of course she was. That's her mental level.

[leftynyc]

14. Breaking a tie vote in the senate

is too hard for 3rd graders to understand? Having a pulse is too hard? What unmitigated bullshit.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

15. lol! This is absurd. Why couldn't a third grader understand the truth? It's actually

a heck of a lot easier. Point one, replace President under extreme circumstances. Point two, ceremoniously preside over the Senate and having the deciding vote in case of a tie.

What's so hard about that?

[sunder]

16. Yeah, right.

:rofl:

[alcibiades_mystery]

17. What an insult to every teacher and parent in the country

You mean to tell me that you can't craft ACCURATE information for your children and students? That information must be necessarily inaccurate in order for children to understand it?

This is fucking laughable.

[WI_DEM]

18. I wonder if her supporters will get that this is an insult towards them?

[ErinBerin84]

19. it's like

when McCain asked her to be VP, she googled it and saw "president of the senate", and thought "Ooooh, so that's what they do! Lotta power there, awesome, you betcha!" She makes Britney Spears sound like a rhodes scholar.

[CADEMOCRAT7]

20. LOL. Lets educate the children with "Her" version of the Constitution.

I think she is used to dealing with really uneducated people that believe what Sarah says.

[RoadRage]

21. Too bad the 3rd grader couldn't explain the question so the GOVENOR could understand....

because she clearly doesn't know that the VP is NOT in charge of the fuckin' Senate.

I mean.. that's like saying that Cheney is currently in charge of Biden, Obama & McCain right now.

Let's ask Gov. Palin.... "Is VP Cheney currently the boss of Sen. McCain"? Watch her head spin.

[alison]

22. I saw this on Olbermann last night

This is just more proof that Palin is a bonafide idiot.

[PA Democrat]

23. Yeah,because no 3rd grader would understand the concept of a TIE

and that the VP gets to cast the vote to break the tie. :eyes:

[Hutzpa]

24. .

:rofl:

[GalleryGod]

25. Mika thinks that was a "Great!" answer because....

She has a terrible Girl-Crush on Sarah Pole Dancer!:loveya:

[deadparrot]

26. Third graders deserve truthful, if simplified, answers. nt

[City Lights]

27. Their defense is that lying to third-graders is better than lying to adults?

:rofl:

[Essene]

28. so, it's ok to lie to children.... nice argument

[pdxmom]

29. Come to think of it, does this explain why she said basically the same

thing during the VP debate and in an interview that KO showed last night?

This is what she believes, dammit, and the media need to hold her feet to the fire about it. She's looking for extra-Constitutional powers for the VP!

[Arrowhead2k1]

30. The thing is, she implied exactly the same thing at a freaking debate.

This is what she really believes and it's scary!

[suston96]

31. Actually, most people know very little about the office of the Vice-President......

http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Vice_President.htm

[rvablue]

32. This explanation makes sense to me

being that the knuckle dragging, mouth breathing, authoritarian hordes that would vote for her have the mentality of a small child.....(no offense, obviously, to small children worldwide! :)

[rvablue]

33. This explanation makes sense to me

being that the knuckle dragging, mouth breathing, authoritarian hordes that would vote for her have the mentality of a small child.....(no offense, obviously, to small children worldwide! :)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

34. I taught third grade for ten years

I would have explained it differently--and still in terms a third grader could understand.

[mwei924]

35. A 3rd grader knows what a "tie-break" is.

[AtomTan]

36. What's great about this

is that somebody HANDED her a chance to redeem herself on this whole "What exactly does VP do?" embarrassment ... and she just embarrassed herself worse. Heckuva job, Sarah.

[Johonny]

37. I don't understand why make this statement

It's not likely to convince, it sounds like another lie, it simply continues the story another news cycle. Republicans use to be good at knowing how to bury bad news cycle material.

[freestyle]

39. Third graders can understand that the VP breaks ties.

Palin lied in terms everyone can understand.

[vaberella]

40. Ugh. "agenda" is not a third grader term. Secondly she explained it incorrectly.

This woman is so stupid, there is no spinning this. You don't know what the Veep does and leave it at that. She gave misinformation and her language to the 3rd grader was false due to the language she was using and who she was answering...which wasn't a third grader but an adult. She's an idiot.

[TexasObserver]

41. The problem is she has no idea what a VP does.

She's a simpleton, incurious, and has never known or cared what the VP does until she was nominated.

[DeschutesRiver]

42. She said that the VP was gonna get in there and "make policy" with them

To lie or pass on bad information to anyone, even third graders, is the issue. Simplifying an issue is one thing; getting the information you are simplifying wrong is another. And that is what she did - its been a long time since she pulled her first misinformed whopper in the Biden debate.

And in the meantime, she has done nothing to rectify the hole in her knowledge. I think Palin believes her information is factually correct, ie that she will be making policy in the Senate along with all the real Senators. She is willfully ignoring the Constitution, and spreading bad information to many, now including small children.

You wouldn't let a teacher get by with this, and Palin shouldn't either. I just love it when the McCain camp talks down to the american public as though we were third graders who would not know any better. NOT.

[Left Is Write]

43. Nope. Sorry. That excuse won't wash. I HAVE a third grader.

I could explain the office of Vice President to her in terms she can understand without giving false information.

It doesn't matter that Palin was talking to a third grader. The answer she gave WAS WRONG. PERIOD.

[Matariki]

44. "so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of policy changes"

Yay, more LIES from Sarah Palin.

[BklynChick]

45. so she lies to 3rd graders just like she lies to everyone else.

[Cass]

46. Unbelievable. So kids are too stupid to understand the correct answer.

That's what this explanation amounts to. It is inexcusable that Palin herself does not know what the VP job entails but it is an outrage that her incorrect answer is being spun as an answer a kid would understand. This really hacks me off. It is so condescending and insulting to the intelligence of children.

[Maven]

47. "Tie-breaking vote" is too difficult for a third-grader?

I don't think so hun.

[LynnTheDem]

49. Ahhh...so she wa LYING to a third-grader?

Coz what she said to the third-grader was INCORRECT.

[Bad Thoughts]

50. Sarah was right

She was explaining things in terms a third grader would understand. She was saying that, as VP, she would cause havoc with the Congress and and assume new constitutional power for her office. She would bring the majority leader to the Supreme Court to accept broad powers as the president of the Senate. She would expand on the Cheney model.

Stop calling her stupid and focus on how she's a tyrant.

[polichick]

51. She gave false information, period.

[npincus]

53. which was more complex, BTW, than the correct explanation would have been.

Every child understands what a "tie" is and what a "tie-breaker" is... the concept of negotiation, persuasion and compromise are way more nuanced, form a child's perspective. My 6-year old would understand the notion of a tie-breaker.

[polichick]

54. Exactly! imo she really believes that the veep can have more power...

if she wants it.

[No Elephants]

52. Nothing like confusing a 3rd grader for no good reason. If the 3rd grader can understand "Vice-

President" and "Senate," a 3rd grader can understand "President of the Senate." And it was not so long ago, Sarah herself said she had no idea what a Vice President is supposed to do {but she wanted to help Alaska). I hope someone has since filled her in that the VP is not supposed to play favorites among states.

[obiwan]

56. Clueless. I had to put up with this crap in high school.

Most of them are:
1. Divorced.
2. Alcoholics or druggies, or both.
3. Insane.
4. Dead.
5. Still righteous and clueless.