Palin tells kids VP "runs" the Senate

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-08-2008
Palin tells kids VP "runs" the Senate
8
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 12:37pm

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081022/ap_on_el_pr/palin_vice_president_s_job


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.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2008
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 12:42pm

I think her answer was fine for an 8 year old.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 12:43pm

and Biden told Ellen the VP doesn't do much ............... ;-)


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/reny-monk/bidens-gaffes-and-second_b_136651.html


one is speaking to 8 yr olds trying to simplify a little and the other is speaking to an adult.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2008
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 12:48pm
nt

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-03-2008
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 12:56pm
there is a little difference between "running" and "presiding over"
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2007
Or she could have said that the VP's job is to run in every morning, stick a mirror under the presidents nose to see if he is still breathing.
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2008
Great visual, thanks!

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. 

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
eh, still more duties than Biden allows :-D

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2008
Or maybe to let the President know that the White House is a no smoking house, and that he will have to kindly take his nasty habit outside so not to smell up the place.