McCain-Palin: The Maverick Team?

DS : "Palin could send a signal that a McCain adminstration would not be the third term of President Bush, but a new page for the GOP."

I don't see where McCain diverges in important ways from the GOP status quo - not enough to signal he is so different than the current administration. I'm not inclined to believe he's a "maverick" (again) because he chose a fresh face for his VP either. Washington is a far cry from Alaska, and Palin has yet to be tested in that environment - in fact she is still an unknown quantity in many ways, although we know she will appeal to the R base. If there is to be a "new page for the GOP" (and I hope there is) it will have to start with an awareness of it's failures and some good faith and hard work moving AWAY from those failures, otherwise it will just be another page rehashing the old plot, albeit with a pretty face on one of the characters... for a change. ;-)

Do you think Palin is ready to be President?

Some concerns expressed by folks who have been living with her longer than we have:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-mitchell/2-t...

Palin is not much of a reformer. She's being investigated for an abuse of power scandal. And she's not nearly as removed from indicted Senator Ted Stevens as she lets on. Oh, and she SUPPORTED the Bridge to Nowhere, despite her lie to the contrary in her Dayton speech.

Sarah Palin may be a neat woman. But her reform cred is a sham. She'll be lucky not to be indicted.

Agree with your reformer comment. When you look at her parse record she looks more like an opportunist then a reformer. But the question is if then when will the press get a chance to ask her what exactly is she going to reform in Washington? What projects programs in her estimation need reforming. I just don't see the McCain campaign releasing her to be vetted until they have "sold" the public the Palin they want the public to see.

Elrod, can you substantiate your comment on the Bridge to Nowwhere with a link? That's an important story, if true.

Not only is Palin less experienced and less qualified than Barack, she seems to lack the intellectual curiosity, or unwillingness, and depth to probe and understand the important and complexing problems/issues knocking at our door today. For example, "What is it exactly that the vice president does all day?" Palin offhandedly asked CNBC anchor Larry Kudlow in July. And, if she does not know what a VP does will she know what a President does. And when asked about her stance on Iraq by Alaskan Daily Palin answers "I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq. I heard on the news about the new deployments"! Well what about Iran, and Georigia? Does this show someone who is ready for Prime Time! And, was she truly vetted? Sarah/McCain get ready for she is about to come under the "media" microscope!

McCain’s VP pick also shows a disdain for this country because if something were to unfortunately happen to McCain, Sarah Palin would be our next President of the United States. Can you imagine in her that role? This proves two things in my mind, McCain’s lack of love for this country and that he does not have the judgment to lead this country at this most profound time.

"John McCain for all his white hair who represents the risky choice, while it is Barack Obama who offers cautious, steady, predictable governance.
Here’s I fear the worst harm that may be done by this selection. The McCain campaign’s slogan is "country first." It’s a good slogan, and it aptly describes John McCain, one of the most self-sacrificing, gallant, and honorable men ever to seek the presidency. But question: If it were your decision, and you were putting your country first, would you put an untested small-town mayor a heartbeat away from the presidency? David Frum

Some in the media call it Historic but in reality Is this decision Historic or Hysterical and a mockery to our political system? Some in the media label it a game changer but is it really a roll of the dice? And should a Presidential candidate play Russian roulette with the people's business? It is telling of McCain's character and judgment that with all the problems we face here today, he did not have the People's interest at heart in this V.P. pick but rather a desire to win for winnings sake and did not think of the consequences of his actions or maybe did not care what it would mean for this country if she were to be sworn in as President of the United States! And, ironically, the very things he accused Barack of being (which he is not) -- empty suit, no experience -- he got in his own V.P. Pick, Sarah Palin!

Lastly, McCain's pick of Sarah Palin, a woman with very little executive experience, a woman who has approved a 26 billion dollar gas-pipeline to a Canadian business instead of a business here in the United States, a woman who the Alaskan legislature approved a $100,000 investigation into her motivations in firing Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan (troopergate) has proven to the world how really pathetic the Republican party has become that they will try any trick in the book to keep the power in the hands of big oil and special interest and out of the hands of the people where it belongs

Its is painfully obvious that Palin is going to take the spotlight away from Obama so now the left is trying desperately to smut smear her and frantically trying to paint her a certain way before America learns the real truth.

Predictable to say the least.

Palin is far and away more qualified to lead this country then is Barak Obama.

Neither is high up on my list of best qualified but certainly when it comes to experience of RUNNING GOVERNMENT...............OBAMA has NONE.

I will repeat......Palin has been in politics longer then Obama. She has led first a city and then a state. She has tackkled corruption. She voted herself a pay cut......Halle fricken lulujah someone who WALKS THE WALK......sold Alaska's governors JET and rides the bus..............Went after the politicians in her own party.......

Palin was also elected president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors.

Palin has followed through on plans to create a new sub-cabinet group of advisers to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions within Alaska.

Governor Murkowski appointed Palin to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, where she chaired the Commission from 2003 to 2004, and also served as Ethics Supervisor.[20] She resigned in protest over what she called the "lack of ethics" of fellow Republican members.

Her list of accomplishments goes on and on. She is the right choice for the GOP to tackle their own graft and corruption and it appears at least in Alaska she is not afraid of her own party and this has gotten her elected and relected many times.

The more I look at this choice the more it fills TWO and not ONE slot for what McCain wanted as a VP......... Shake things up...Palin and Lieberman. Maverick... Lieberman and Palin.

The deciding factor was she was a young, attractive, conservative WOMAN and Lieberman is still a liberal wrinkly white haired old dude.

Manchester2:

The cite you are looking for:

Here's what she told the Anchorage Daily News on October 22, 2006, during the race for the governor's seat (via Nexis):

5. Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?

Yes. I would like to see Alaska's infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now--while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.

It appears she turned against it AFTER it got knocked down in 2007

Neocon,
I dismantled the "executive experience" argument in another post. Leading a sparsely populated state for 18 months and being a part-time mayor of a small town does not remotely count as the sort of executive experience that prepares you for the Presidency.

The Bridge to Nowhere lie is debunked here.

We will find out more in the coming days and weeks that the rest of her reformer cred is a joke. Abuse of power is just the beginning.

Steveski:


She needs to prep for Biden. Expect 1 small campaign event a day for the next month while Randy Scheunemann teaches her about international affairs, Phil Gramm trains her about how the economy works, Charlie Black teaches her how to work with Washington Lobbyists and Lindsey Graham teaches her how the government works. Kind of like bundling a 4 year college program packaged into a one month crash course. Everything You Needed to Know About the Federal Government 101.

I say this while I withhold comment (bite upper lip) on the quality of what they will teach her.

At the end of the day, the focus will be the one day course on talkingpoints. Remember 20 focus group developed lines and repeat.

Consider the source of training when evaluating what kind of product comes out the backend.

Elrod,

Your observations are right on point. The bottom line is that this election will be about judgement, change and risk.

Time will tell if Palin will learn enough to validate McCain's pick--however from a first blush it genuinely calls into question his judgement.

Up till now Obama has owned the change mantle. While he has been a "Maverick" on some issues in the distant past, McCain's 90% support of Bush in conjunction with the full support of the rightwing agenda over the past year has blown that up. I don't know if selecting Palin as a change agent is nothing more than a me too stab at it.

Palin vs Biden as VP selections? Judgement points to Obama

On the executive front Palin is not qualified. Would she run GM as CEO after leading a small parts warehouse as opposed to the engineering division or launching the Mustang. I remember Lee Iaccoca, and Palin isn't a Lee Iacoca, not even running a small parts plant.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Iacocca
Palin is more Mark Schwartz, the young gun who bankrupted K-Mart.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kmart

Neocon:Its is painfully obvious that Palin is going to take the spotlight away from Obama so now the left is trying desperately to smut smear her and frantically trying to paint her a certain way before America learns the real truth. Predictable to say the least.

Yeah, shame on them. The next thing you know they'll do something really smeary like posting Palin's Vogue pose next to a Paris Hilton vogue-type pose. I can't imagine the GOP doing anything like that.

Holy crap, are you kidding me? McCain's choice of Palin show's it's just more of the same, that McCain is still beholden to the extreme right-wing of the republican party. The right-wing extremists have controlled the country for the past 8 years, and look where it's gotten us. Now, instead of standing up to the Rush Limbaugh's and Sean Hannity's of the party, he's caved and picked an extreme right-wing running mate with zero foreign policy (or national, for that matter) experience just because he thought it would help him get elected.

Lieberman would have been a maverick choice: A unity ticket for the good of the country.

Romney would have been a maverick choice: A popular governor who has done some amazing things as far as health care, and would be an excellent advisor on the economy.

Tom Ridge or Charlie Crist: The needs of this country outweigh the single social issue of abortion.

The choice of Palin is nothing more than throwing away the maverick and change mantras, and trying to become Bush with different faces. No thanks!

Neocon, try to get a grip. Apparently you still don't understand what a "smear" is. Dukakis, McCain 2000, and Kerry could all explain that to you in clear terms. What I see here is discussion of facts, possible facts, and appropriate questioning about fitness for a critically important position. If Palin has a lot more going for her than newness and hype, then she will manage to weather all this. It's clear to me she is an accomplished person, but she's never been in the big leagues, and so far her greatest assett in this national spotlight is her newness... which (like it or not) is going to wear off, then we'll see what's left.

neocon, do you put out these crazy opinions just to get a reaction? Do you really believe what you write? If you do believe everything that you write then I would have to say that your handle is exactly the correct way to describe you. McCain was never a 'maverick' What he was was available to the MSM at all times. You might notice an upsurge of negative McCain stories. They seem to have started when McCain shut off his wide open press availability. The MSM were, as McCain has said many times, his base. Now that he has pissed them off, watch the sharks go after him. It has started already with the problems with his mouth in Sturgis and his house problem. Check out the Time interview. For a magazine who had totally adored him, this interview really slams him.

To add to my prior point, the selection by McCain was such a huge mistake, it could only have done out of desperation given the last week's activities at the DNC.

Until now McCain had been running a classic incumbent's campaign while being able to distance himself from the Bush legacy. He was running on his superior judgement, experience on international affairs and proven experience to work across the aisle with Democrats.

While Obama has been continually trying to tie the Bush legacy around McCain's neck and to question his judgement about going to war in the first place, the Main Stream Media has pretty much bought into the talkingpoint that this election would be a referrendum on Obama because McCain was a proven commodity.

In essence the media was pushing the thought that McCain was the per se incumbent and Obama had to prove to the public that he was qualified to be President. Even lousy incumbents win in that type of environment. Placing the burden of proof on an "unknown commodity makes it very difficult for that person to win.

McCain could have selected a credentialed Republican and that dynamic would not have changed. Instead he chose a seemingly unqualified person as VP who will have to prove to an extent that she is qualified to be one heartbeat away from President. This is especially an issue because of McCain's cancer history and age. McCain made these issues especially relevant because of this selection.

Now the press is focused on Palin. She needs to PROVE her bona fides. If she does not, then it provides clear proof that Obama's claim of poor judgement on the part of McCain is validated.

McCain no longer has the "incumbent's" advantage. The rightwing may try to spin this as a great pick, but the press is all over him on the perceived problems. Once they latch onto a "narrative" they will go out of their way to repeat and support that narrative.

Instead of keeping the burden of proof on Obama, McCain put it in his own lap.

This is not an example of high stakes poker or working the blackjack table where a pro has a shot to manage the odds. McCain ponied up to the craps table to roll the dice. And he didn't need to do it, unless he genuinely believed that based on the way the DNC was going he was going to lose anyway.

My friends, if you ever wanted to see an example of risky behavior---this is it. McCain is either smarter than most of the 'unbiased" observers or a loose cannon. And the sad part is for him is that he lost most of the control over how that outcome will play out.

I dismantled the "executive experience" argument in another post. Leading a sparsely populated state for 18 months and being a part-time mayor of a small town does not remotely count as the sort of executive experience that prepares you for the Presidency.

Yeah I read. Dont agree and in fact you have posted your own agenda when you said its important to define Palin as quickly as possible. Your analysis of her abilities are flawed and politically motivated. Based upon facts she is way more qualified then a part time law professor who lead nothing, was appointed to nothing, wrote no papers and has accomplished NOTHING in his life except run for a lot of public offices.

The simple facts are that you guys are bashing Palin for having no experience when in fact she is more experienced and more qualified then Obama. hell I bet she could even take him in a game of one on one. Face it. Obama is about as qualified as I am to be president.

Even Biden said so...........The job of president does not lend itself very well for OJT. Obama will step into the White House and start learning how to be president. Palin will step into the VP office down the street and start learning how to be VP. A HUGE difference and one in which you guys are now returning the light on Obama's total lack of experience in comparing her to Palin who even as VP is more experienced and qualified for the presidency then is Obama.

Palin City Mayor, Governor of Alaska.

Obama......state senator, Part Time Senator. Spent his whole life running for office.

Yeah I can see how Obama is so highly prepared for the job. I can see how his 3 years in the Senate is totally prepatory while her time as mayor and Governor is not.

Gotta love fantasyland politics.

Timr

Do you really believe what you write? What you make up? Why is it that EVERYONE calls him a maverick but now Timr says well no hes not........so it must be true.

Do you really believe what you write?

Neocon,
McCain's maverick cred was established in 2000 when he courted independents and liberals in an attempt to defeat Gov. Bush who has the support of the Republican base. McCain's views before and after that election have been staunchly conservative and in line with traditional Republican positions.