The selection of a running mate is one of the most important, most defining decisions a presidential nominee can make. Senator John McCain’s pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin says a lot about his decision making, and some of it is downright questionable.
We knew McCain is a politician who enjoys winging it, and likes to go with his gut. But it is incredible that someone who has repeatedly emphasized experience in this campaign named an inexperienced governor he, or anyone else barely knows to be his No. 2. This is what I believe the pick tells us about Senator McCain:
He’s desperate. Let’s stop pretending this race is as close as national polling suggests, especially after what happened at the Democratic National Convention. The truth is McCain is tied or trailing in every swing state that matters — and too close for comfort in several states like Indiana and Montana that the Republicans usually win pretty easily in presidential races. On top of that, voters seem very inclined to elect Democrats in general this election — and are very sick of the Bu$h years. McCain could easily lose in an electoral landslide. That is the private view of Democrats and Republicans alike.
McCain’s pick shows he is not pretending. Politicians, even loose canons like McCain, play it safe when they think they are winning, or see an easy path to winning. They roll the dice only when they know that the risks of traditionalism are greater than the risks of boldness. President Bu$h has turned the Republican brand into a mess. McCain is concluding that it won’t work to duplicate the George W. Bu$h and Karl Rove electoral formula, based around fear of threat to national security.
The Republicans are dying in dire need of a change from their normal old White men. She is a fresh new face, but she still follows the same party line. The McCain campaign hopes she will prompt voters to give him a second look, especially women who have watched Democrats reject Hillary Clinton for Barack Obama.
The risks of a backlash from choosing someone so unknown and so untested are obvious. In one swift stroke, Senator McCain demolished what had been one of his main arguments against Senator Obama.
McCain is willing to gamble — big time. This is not the pick of a self-confident candidate. It is the political equivalent of a trick play or, as some Democrats called it, a Hail Mary pass in football. McCain talks constantly about experience, and then goes and selects a person he hardly knows, who hardly knows foreign policy and who can hardly be seen as instantly ready for the presidency.
He is smart enough to know it could work, at least politically. Many Republicans see this pick as a brilliant stroke because it will be difficult for Democrats to run hard against a woman in the wake of the Hillary Clinton drama. But this is not only aimed at them; it is directed at the huge bloc of independent women, especially those who do not see abortion as a make-or-break issue. However, in my opinion, it is the same old Republican like of respect for the mental capacity of anyone who is not a White “old money” male. They break out token “Black” every election time in hopes of putting doubt in the minds of Black folks who have not keeping an eye open. Now they break out their “woman”, thinking women will vote for her without knowing anything about her. Total disrespect for the ability of women to think.
McCain is worried about the political implications of his age. Like a driver overcorrecting out of a swerve, he chooses someone who is two years younger than the youthful Obama, and 28 years younger than he is. (He turned 72 Friday.) The father-daughter comparison was inevitable when they appeared next to each other. And why did he have to stand beside her when she was speaking – did he plan to jump in if she made a mistake? Hummmmmm…
He’s not worried about the actual implications of his age. He thinks he’s in good health, and Palin wouldn’t be performing the only constitutional duty of a vice president, which is standing by in case a president dies or becomes incapacitated. If he was really concerned about an inexperienced person sitting in the Oval Office we would be talking about vice presidential nominee Mitt Romney or Tom Ridge or Condoleezza Rice. There is no credible way that McCain could say that he picked Palin, who was only elected governor in 2006 and whose most extended public service was as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska (population 8,471), because she was ready to be president on Day One.
Nor can McCain argue that he was looking for someone he could trust as a close adviser. Most people know the staff at the local Starbucks better than McCain knows Palin. They met for the first time last February at a National Governors Association meeting in Washington. Then, they spoke again, by phone, on Sunday while she was at the Alaska state fair and he was at home in Arizona. Man, this guy just might be worst than Bu$h.
McCain has made a mockery out of his campaign's longtime contention that Barack Obama is too dangerously inexperienced to be commander in chief. Now, the Democratic ticket boasts 40 years of national experience (four years for Obama and 36 years for Joseph Biden), while the Republican ticket has 26 (McCain’s four years in the House and 22 in the Senate.) The McCain campaign has made a bet that the American voter is dumb and gullible and that most voters don’t really care about the national experience or credentials of a vice president, and that Palin’s cheerful personality and gender matters more.
He’s worried about the Republican conservative base. If he had room to maneuver, there were lots of people McCain could have selected who would have represented a break from Washington politics as usual. Senator Joe Lieberman comes to mind (and it certainly came to McCain’s throughout the process). He had no such room. Republican power brokers were furious over feelers about the possibility of choosing a supporter of abortion rights, including the possibility that he would reach out to his friend Lieberman. It is no secret McCain wanted to shake things up in this race — and he realized he was limited to a shake-up conservatives could support. Palin is a committed opponent of abortion who was previously scheduled to keynote the Republican National Coalition for Life's "Life of the Party" event in the Twin Cities this week. I care about unborn babies also, but what gets me about the Republicans is that they seem to care more about unborn babies that they care they care for live people who are having difficulties every day.
His team did manage to play to the media’s love of drama, fanning speculation about his possible choices and maximizing coverage of the decision and take the spotlight off Senator Obama who seemed to be like a snow ball rolling down a hill getting larger and larger. At the end of the day, McCain is still McCain. People may find him a refreshing maverick, or an erratic egotist. In either event, he marches to his own beat. Some like spontaneity, with a touch of impulsiveness, but whether it’s a good calling card for a potential president will depend on the reaction in coming days. Do we really want another one of those in the White House?
1 comment:
Bravo NE, I could not have said it better myself. McCain and his croonies have just shown that they think the American people are idiots. If this good old boy becomes the ruler of the free world then one can TRULY SAY the chickens have come home to roast. It is Obama's too lose at this point.
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