It seems to me that Chris Mathews, in this clip from the MSNBC television show Hardball, is asking a legitimate question. Showing video of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in which she explains that her job as Vice President is to reside over the Senate and draft legislation, Mathews asks McCain campaign spokesperson Nancy Pfotenhauer if the candidate is aware that, as Vice President, according to the constitution, she has no legislative role and only participates in the Senate on the very rare occasion when a tie-breaking vote is needed.
Matthews, of course, goes to far with it, suggesting that Palin should spend more time reading the constitution and less time shopping, but, it seems to me that, beneath the Hardball theatrics, he’s got a legitimate concern… Here’s the quote from Matthews:
…Somehow, in all these trips to Washington — through Neiman’s, and through Saks, and through everywhere else she stopped off, she never picked up a copy of the Constitution. It is a problem. It is a problem, Nancy, and you know it…
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Neither the Senate nor the House of Representatives abide by the limits of the Constitution, why should the VP?
I like to imagine, when each person swears his/her oath of office to uphold and defend the Constitution, that they secretly think “or else what?”
I ask anyone here: “or else what?”
I answer: nothing. The highest law of the land is unenforcible, and they know it.
Or else impeachment, right?
Nobody in government wants to start impeaching people for violating the Constitution. It would start a precident that would clear the place out.
Like I said when she was chosen, she was a bad choice. Romney would have been a much better selection.
Washington Post polls show Palin’s unfavorable rating rising from 29% the week after she was nominated to 51% now. Her favorable rating went from 59% down to 46% in the same period.