Would Palin Be "In Charge" Of The Senate?

Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin has been criticized for her response Monday to a question from a third grader concerning the role of the vice president.

"A vice president has a really great job because not only are they there to support the president's agenda, they're there like the team member, the teammate to the 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."

Palin's claim that the vice president is "in charge of" the Senate has garnered the most ire, with critics casting it as reflecting a fundamental misunderstanding of the vice presidential role.

Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow in constitutional studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, told Horserace that the only power specifically outlined in the Constitution for a vice president is to preside over the Senate and have a vote in case of a tie.

No further formal policy making roles were specified, Shapiro said, because when the Constitution was drafted, the vice president was the runner up for the presidency, and was expected to come from a different faction or party.

The vice president's role, CBS News Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen told Horserace over email, "might be relevant depending upon what the balance in the Senate is after the election."

"Some veeps, like LBJ, had extraordinary influence in the Senate because of their long time there," he added. "Palin, of course, doesn't have that advantage."

But Shapiro is willing to give Palin the benefit of the doubt for saying the vice president is "in charge of" the Senate, suggesting she is using "her usual homespun language" to describe what could ultimately be a powerful position, as it has been for Dick Cheney.

"Governor Palin was responding to a third grader's inquiry," Maria Comella, Palin's spokeswoman, said about the response. "She was explaining in terms a third-grader could understand that the vice-president is also president of the U.S. Senate."

The scope and power of the vice presidency, Shapiro says, ultimately depends on how the president structures his administration. He notes that a Republican vice president can have a significant role in developing policy in Senate caucuses. Cheney, he noted, has been very active in lobbying senators and pushing President Bush's agenda.

"It depends what you mean by 'in charge,'" Shapiro said, noting that the vice president is the titular head of the Senate. "Is there anyone 'in charge' of the Senate? Is the speaker 'in charge' of the House?" He argued that at no point did Palin articulate a role for a vice president that overstepped the limits of the Constitution.

[blondegenes]

"In attacking Vice President *** Cheney, Mr. Biden said the vice president''s only role is to support the president and to preside over the Senate "only in a time when in fact there''s a tie vote. The Constitution is explicit."

The Constitution, though, actually says the vice president is always president of the Senate and legal scholars say he has the right to preside at any time. Early vice presidents, such as Thomas Jefferson, actively exercised that role, the vice president still keeps offices at the Capitol, and scholars say it wasn''t until the middle of the 20th century that the vice president had an office at the executive office building.

The president pro tempore, usually the senior senator from the majority party, takes over only when the vice president is absent. In recent practice, as the vice president has taken a bigger role in the executive, that''s meant the Senate operates almost all of the time without the vice president in the chair."
Thomas Jefferson wrote, "A Manual of Parliamentary Practice: for the Use of the Senate of the United States"
Gov Palin, who is a Newbie, got it right!
I would think that a guy like Joe Biden, who has been in the Senate for decades, and has to have a working knowledge of what role the VP plays in regard to legislation,,would know the role of VP.
Der.

[hungry4goodg]

C''mon, considering that it wasn''t all that long ago that Sarah herself admitted not having a clue about the job of VP, this oddball interpretation is a start for Sarah.

[sister125]

Well with all the hoopla pertaining to how uneducated and how little she knows about our government, who do we have to blame for her being in our mist. It just so sad, both candidates McCain/Palin should just throw in the towel. He''s Old and need to go home and retire; and she''s infantile.

[sister125]

Palin''s voice is really annoying, she asinine, she reminds me of the Edith Bunker character. I believe the third grader parents defined to him/her what the VP role is, and that same third grader probably looked at Plain as if she head two heads.

[truthliesgov]

Here''s a woman who thinks, being "Elite" means thinking you are better then someone? Has nothing to do with money, power, or political position, just "thoughts regarding personal position"? Well there are people who think because they belong to a certain race makes them better, and I know some dilusional individuals who think they are better then everyone else just because? I would not be surprise if these medical records she does not want to release indicate some type of personality disorder. My question "Will her husband, The First Dude, be sitting in congress and the house whiles she is making policies, and will her children be handing out tissues to the members of congress and the house, so that they can wipe the tears from their eyes from laughing at her position or lack of knowlegde?".

[westwander]

This just highlights how badly the GOP campaign has been managed. After all that''s happened, why would you put Palin in a situation where she needs to explain government to a 3rd grader. She already looks stupid enough and now you''re asking her to talk cutesy wootsey? The Dems must be pinching themselves it''s gotten so easy.

[westwander]

This just highlights how badly the GOP campaign has been managed. After all that''s happened, why would you put Palin in a situation where she needs to explain government to a 3rd grader. She already looks stupid enough and now you''re asking her to talk cutesy wootsey? The Dems must be pinching themselves it''s gotten so easy.

[westwander]

This just highlights how badly the GOP campaign has been managed. After all that''s happened, why would you put her in a situation where she needs to explain government to a 3rd grader. She already looks stupid enough and now you''re asking her to talk cutesy wootsey? The Dems couldn''t write a script any better.

[sdcclay]

Palin will be technically called the "president of the senate" but that doesnt give her "any" power other than a tie breaking vote. She said that she could "get in there and make policy" which is absurd. She plainly doesnt know what the VP does. Shes been asked 4 times and she still cant get it right!

[emelder]

The next President and VP will have to be intelligent, build world-wide coalitions, and have the stamina to stay with a well-conceived vision for this country ... Barack/Obama can do that, McCain/Palin cannot. Our choice is clear this time, people. Go Obama/Biden ... let''s get out the vote, make this a mandate for change ... and make it impossible for the Republicans to steal this one in the courts (their lawsuits have already begun over voter registration issues).