Cubbie

WASHINGTON – Asked by a third-grader what a vice president does, Republican candidate Sarah Palin responded that the vice president is the president's "team mate" but also "runs the Senate" and "can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes."

While aimed at a typical 8-year-old, Palin's explanations oversimplify the Constitution's definition of the duties of the vice president and don't match the office's traditional role in Senate activities.

The vice president's main duty is to replace the president if the president dies, resigns, is removed from office or can no longer carry out his or her duties for other reasons. The Constitution names the vice president as the president of the Senate but allows the vice president to cast a vote only to break a tie.

The vice president, as a member of the executive branch of the government, has no official role in developing legislation or determining how it is presented to or debated by the Senate, which is part of the legislative branch. In all meaningful ways, the leader of the majority party runs the Senate.

Traditionally, the vice president appears in the Senate for ceremonial events and in case of a tie vote. Although the vice president can preside over the Senate, vice presidents have left that day-to-day chore to senators themselves. In the past, each president has determined the role of the vice president in an administration.

The subject of the vice president's duties came up as Palin sat for an interview with KUSA-TV in Denver, which has a feature called "Question from the Third Grade." The interviewer asked, "Brandon Garcia wants to know, 'What does the vice president do?'"

"That's a great question, Brandon, and a vice president has a really great job, because not only are they there to support the president's agenda, they're like the team member, the team mate to that president," Palin said.

"But also, they're in charge of the United States 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. And it's a great job and I look forward to having that job," she said.



[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KKyEM-BDJI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KKyEM-BDJI[/ame]



Palin tells kids the vice president 'runs' Senate - Yahoo! News

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Does she even have a clue?

knot_e_lady

That's what the McCain/Palin campaign are doing, and here's the result:



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waitingtables

She might like to actually read the Constitution for a change, before she starts spouting off about things she is totally ignorant about. If McCain is elected, we're screwed.

garysher

There she is again in that red leather jacket

sgtdmski

Hmmm, the Vice President is the President of the Senate. Is that not what the Constitution says, perhaps some of the liberal pundits need to study it a bit!



dmk

knot_e_lady

Perhaps, then, you too need to read the Constitution.





"The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided"



The United States Constitution - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net



The Vice President is a tie breaker, that's it. They are not 'in charge' of the Senate, as Dick Cheney would like to believe.

pensacola_niceman

I bet she won't give that to charity after the election

garysher

It wouldn't fit you anyway.

sgtdmski

From the original article, it would seem that as President of the Senate she can preside over it, just because previous Vice Presidents have does not mean that she won't as well. So in actuality what Sarah said was the truth. The question was posed by an 8 year old. I am sure that if it was posed by the reporter Sarah's answer might have been more technically.



Once again we see journalist using ambush tactics, taking what someone says to a child as response to adults. While I am sure that if Obama or Biden were responding to the child the answer would have been technically correct and the reporters happy, but the child would probably be standing there thinking WHAT????? I guess that is the difference, Sarah recognizes her audience where as Obama and Biden are too elite to realize there is a difference.



dmk

pensacola_niceman

Yes, but I am far from a charitable cause. That being said, all the welfare moms who would qualify for the donation are too damn fat to fit in to her clothes anyway.