Africa Not a Continent? Can't Name Members of NAFTA? Palin's Lack of Knowledgeability Comes to Light

Posted by Ali Frick, Think Progress at 7:36 AM on November 6, 2008.

Last night, Fox News’s Carl Cameron reported that “there was great concern in the McCain campaign that Sarah Palin lacked a degree of knowledgability [sic] necessary to be a running mate, vice president, and a heartbeat away from the Presidency.” For example, aides said Palin did not know that Africa was a continent, rather than a country. According to ABC News, Palin dismissed the internal criticism and refused to comment on the specific allegations:

PALIN: That’s kind of a small, evidently bitter type of person who would anonymously charge something foolish like that, that I perhaps didn’t know an answer to a question. So until I know who is talking about it, I won’t have a comment on false allegations.

The explosive claims — including that Palin could not name the signatories to NAFTA and that she refused to prepare before her Katie Couric interviews — are the latest signs of infighting and finger-pointing among McCain campaign staffers, not to mention evidence that Palin was difficult to control. For example, Newsweek and the New York Times are reporting that Palin spent far more than the originally-reported $150,000 on clothing, including spending on shoes, jewelry, and even luggage.

While Palin’s astounding misunderstanding of the basic nature of Africa has not yet been confirmed, it certainly would not deviate from her demonstrated lack of fundamental knowledge about the world:

– Palin suggested the U.S. shares a border with Afghanistan, calling it “our neighboring country.”

– Palin touted her foreign policy experience by explaining, “You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.”

– Palin suggested the U.S. was in a war with Iran.

– Palin claimed that “Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America,” though there have been no Russian incursions of American airspace during Palin’s tenure.

The fact that Palin thought, for example, that South Africa was just a region of the larger country of Africa makes McCain’s claim to have “turned to her for advice” on foreign policy “many times” that much more implausible — or frightening.

Tagged as: john mccain, sarah palin

Ali Frick is a Research Associate for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.