Eagleburger: Sarah Palin Not Ready For Presidency

Former US Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger has endorsed Republican nominee John McCain for President. However, he has some reservations about his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, and rejects any notion that she is ready to be President.

Eagleburger, who served as Secretary of State under George H.W. Bush, said on Thursday that the Alaska governor is not only unprepared to take over the job on a moment's notice but, even after some time in office, would only amount to an "adequate" commander in chief. The remarks took place during an interview on National Public Radio. When asked by the host whether Palin could step in during a time of crisis, Eagleburger responded: "Look, of course not. I don't think at the moment she is prepared to take over the reins of the presidency." He later added, "Give her some time in the office and I think the answer would be, she will be.....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." Ouch! The harsh critique of the Alaska Governor is significant because both McCain and Palin have cited Eagleburger's endorsement repeatedly during the past several weeks. After Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama, during a dual interview on NBC, Brian Williams asked both McCain and Palin for their thoughts on the Powell endorsement and in particular Powell's statement that Palin "is not ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of vice president." John McCain responded, "Obviously General Powell does not know Governor Palin's record. All I can say is, I see all these attacks on Governor Palin. I don't live in a bubble. But those people obviously are either not paying attention to, or don't care about the record of the most popular governor in the United States of America." Sarah Palin, for her part interjected and cited the "five former secretaries of states", Eagleburger included, that have endorsed their campaign and see in their candidacy "the ability to win the wars and to keep our nation safe and on course." Days later, Eagleburger's endorsement was again cited while talking to Wolf Blitzer on CNN. During that interview, McCain attempted to downplay the significance of General Powell's criticisms of Palin by stating, "I especially disagreed when he said the comments that he made about Governor Palin. And I hope that sometime General Powell will take time out of his busy schedule to meet with her. I know she'd be pleased to meet with him." By using the endorsements of Eagleburger, the other Secretaries of State, as well as some 200 former military flag officers, the GOP ticket has attempted to provide evidence that it has firm standing and support within foreign policy circles. While the list is impressive in its own right, the criticism from Eagleburger can provide another deadly blow to an already reeling campaign.