Palin takes heat for saying VP 'in charge' of the Senate
Posted: 03:14 PM ET
From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
Watch Palin's comments on KUSA Wednesday.
(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.
The comments have drawn criticism from Democrats and liberal blogs which note the actual role of the vice president when it comes to the Senate is simply to cast a tie-breaking vote in the event of a stalemate. According to Article I of the U.S. Constitution, the vice president is the "President" of the Senate, but has no executive position when it comes to presiding over the chamber.
Donald Ritchie, a historian in the Senate Historical Office told CNN that Palin's comment was an "overstatement" of what her role would be.
"The vice president is the ceremonial officer of the Senate and has certain ceremonial functions including swearing in new senators and can vote to break a tie," he said. "It’s a relatively limited role. It's evolved into a neutral presiding officer of the Senate.
Ritchie also noted recent vice presidents have played a behind-the-scenes lobbying role on Capitol Hill for an administration's policies, but called it "somewhat limited."
"It's not comparable to the Speaker of the House who is certainly in charge of the House," he said. "The slogan that political scientists use is that the House is ruled by the chair and the Senate is ruled by the floor…the senators are in charge of the Senate."
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."
In an interview with CBS earlier this month, Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden also said he hoped to play an influential role in the legislative branch if Barack Obama wins the White House.
"I hope one of my roles as vice president will be as the person actually implementing Barack Obama's policy. You gotta get the Congress to go along with it," he said. "And it's presumptuous to say, but I know it pretty well. And I think I am fairly respected on both sides of the aisle."
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2 comments:
I'll tell you what I'm sick of are these dumb "got ya" questions the liberal media keeps throwing at Palin. I mean seriously asking her who the head of small country many people don't know about is just dumb. Clearly, these interviews were done in a matter where she could only look bad. What I really find shocking is how many fail to see all the good Palin has done.
I agree there have been real cases of gotcha journalism. For example, when Charlie Gibbson asked Palin her view of the Bush Doctrine, she didn't seem to know what it was. Gibson went on to describe the doctrine of pre-emption is though that were the sum total of the Bush Doctrine. In reality, the Bush Doctrine encompasses 3 or 4 other themes and it has evolved over the years.
That said, when Couric asked which periodicals she read and Palin wasn't able to cite a single publication, that's not gotcha journalism. Or when a third grader asked what the VP does and Palin got it completely wrong, that's not gotcha journalism.
Let's face it, all four of the candidates have done a number of good things in their careers. Yes, I agree that Palin has done some good things. That said, I still think she is not VP or presidential material, so that is the argument I am going to make.
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