Sarah Palin truly is not a Washington insider. Per Think Progress, she told a local television station in Colorado (in response to a question from a third grader), that the Vice President is “in charge of the U.S. Senate, so if they want to they, can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes.”
It is true that the Vice President is technically the President of the Senate. (Remember Dick Cheney’s creative assertion that this makes him a member of the Legislative Branch–and, therefore, not subject to routine government oversight of his handling of classified material?) But under the Constitution, that job begins and ends with breaking tie votes.
The fact of the matter: No one is “in charge” of the Senate, a place where every single member has the ability to gum up the works. Which reminds me of the time that Adam Clymer of the New York Times asked then-Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell why he aspired to be major league baseball commissioner, a job that would put him at the mercy of 32* rich, egotistical maniacs.
Mitchell smiled and answered: “Only 32?”*
UPDATE AND CORRECTION: *Sharp-eyed commenter Phantom notes:
Not to nitpick guys (inlcuding you, KT), but there are only 30 MLB franchises. There are 32 NFL franchises.
My mistake, not Mitchell’s. I’m sure he would have known that.
