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McCain’s Desperation VP Pick

August 29th, 2008
By ELROD

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CNN confirms this morning that John McCain has selected Alaska GOP Governor Sarah Palin to be his VP pick. According to many who know her she has a “dynamic personality” and came into office in 2006 with a pledge to reform Alaska’s notoriously corrupt government.

As a woman candidate, she will undoubtedly draw much attention as this is only the second time in history that a major party has selected a female VP candidate. She was also a runner-up to Miss Alaska in 1984; she is definitely an attractive woman.

The question, however, is why Sarah?

Think about the VP’s job. It’s to step into office on a moment’s notice in case the President pulls a William Henry Harrison and days a month after taking office. This is always a real possibility, but with McCain’s advanced age and prior health issues, the succession issue is even more important this year. It was especially incumbent upon McCain to pick somebody who would be ready to serve in a moment’s notice.

Is that Sarah Palin? She was elected Governor 18 months ago. Before that, she was the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. She is 43 years old and has served a fraction of even Barack Obama’s time in non-local political office. Despite her longtime support for ethics reform, she is under state investigation right now for abuse of power in the dismissal of the Commissioner of Public Safety.

The centerpiece to John McCain’s argument against Barack Obama is that he is too inexperienced to lead right now. That he is unprepared for the Presidency of the United States. Agree or disagree, that’s McCain argument.

This VP completely undercuts that argument. If McCain is unable to serve in his first term, a woman with 18 months of experience beyond the Mayoral level (and this ain’t NYC) will have to step in and serve as leader of the free world. She has virtually no public profile outside the state of Alaska and carries no major message or agenda that makes up for her lack of experience. She is attractive, athletic and has condemned the notoriously-corrupt Alaska GOP. And she is a social conservative who opposes abortion rights and so is acceptable to the Christian right (meaning her appeal to pro-choice women is limited).

But is that why she should be the VP? I get the strange feeling that John McCain watched Obama’s performance last night and decided he needed to shoot the moon in order to have a chance. He knew that a standard-issue pick like Pawlenty or Romney would not do it. Some will see this as a bold pick. It is.

But it’s also an act of desperation. McCain panicked, and once the novelty wears off, he and Palin will have some tough questions to answer regarding her appropriateness (experience, judgment, vision, etc.) to serve in the highest office in the world on a moment’s notice.



This entry was posted on Friday, August 29th, 2008 at 11:08 am and is filed under Sarah Palin, Vice President, Newsweek Blogitics, At TMV, John McCain. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Viewing 29 Comments

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    I don't know if I would consider this a "desperation pick". I mean, given her stance going after corruption. Hasn't pork-barrel spending been one of the things that McCain has been going after? Seems a bit fitting for me. Everyone else considered just kept the media talking.

    I would agree with you about the experience issue. McCain won't be arguing that anymore. But now, all of Obama's defenders about his experience are going to use the same arguments against Palin's lack of experience? After all, if we are going to start arguing experience, we need only look at the past 8 years and see what experience has gotten us. Isn't that a key point the Obama camp has been arguing, essentially trying to neutralize the "experience" issue?
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    All those conservatives who laughed when Obama picked Biden saying it was a "desperation" pick trying to cover his in-experience.

    This is a smokescreen trying to attract some disaffected Clinton voters. They don't want these people to look at the issues or the party platforms, just the sex of the person running.
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    jchem,
    The point isn't for Obama to go after Palin for inexperience. It's to prevent McCain from doing the same to Obama.

    And as for cutting pork-barrel spending, her record in a notoriously corrupt state is still quite thin. OK, she's had a good start in her 18 months in the Governor's chair. And I suppose she should be commended for turning down offers to build an extravagant Christmas display in Wasilla or something. But let's face it, she has done nothing but talk about reform up to now.
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    Elrod,

    I agree with you. McCain has essentially thrown the experience issue off to the side. He has to have some sort of reason for it. Maybe he'll go after Obama over something else?

    "But let's face it, she has done nothing but talk about reform up to now."

    I agree with you here too. Although, I will say that this is exactly what the Repubs have been saying about Obama all this time.

    I shudder to think how she'll do against Joe Biden in the VP debate...I've never heard of Palin until this morning, so I have no idea what her oratory skills are.
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    You all are kidding right? Questioning Palin's experience when the top of your ticket has less. Your party blundered by not picking Hillary and then compounded it by not respecting her enough to make her your VP. And now your party will pay accordingly. McCain's pick is change we can believe in. Smart women can be respected and excel. None of that 99 problems and a bi-ch ain't one of them hip hop stuff you get from Obama's campaign. Respect for women. Try it.
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    I agree that Palin lacks the experience necessary to be VP or Prez... Her short time in politics is a blessing for the GOP since she doesn't have much of a record to look at. Some if it seems a bit heavy-handed (the Matanuska Maid Dairy closure for instance).

    Even though the GOP may claim that Obama is weak on foreign policy (and this from a party that supports McCain, who can not even find Afghanistan on a map), Obama has been involved in politics a lot longer and has shown better judgement on Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan than any of the GOPers. Obama has believed all along that we shoudl go after bin Laden, even after Bush couldn't even be bothered by him.

    What is Palin's views on foreign policy? Actually does she even have any?

    My sense is that McCain feels that he brings the foreign affairs experience (such as it is) while Palin is supposed to appeal to women (and her appeal will be limited given her being a runner-up as Miss Alaska and her pro-life stance) and domestic issues. The GOP will argue that Alaska is the largest sstate in the union (even though it has a population less than the size of Austin, TX). Her greatest strengths will be her lower taxes philosophy and maverick image.... not afraid to stand up to her party apparatus.... (I guess she has never had to deal with Karl Rove.)
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    This was McCain's first big decision as a potential president, and he has just given us what can only be seen as a rather sad display of judgement. (Then again, this may not be his judgement at all, since he has so clearly given up the reins to the same handlers who managed our last dear leader)
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    Palin's downside is foreign policy, but her upside is an appeal to women & her shrink-government & kill-corruption mentality.

    I had predicted her as the outside choice a couple of days ago because the "fresh face" Obama brings was mirrored by McCain's experience. Biden's experience, and his downsides, are countered by Palin's freshness, gender, and total outsider status. Palin is an out-of-the-box choice and if a truly mike-magnet motor-mouth like Sen Shumer calls it "desperate," I am persuaded to believe it may be brilliant.

    Believe it or not, a majority of Americans detest the MSM, inside-the-Beltway political elites, and the Hollyweird/academicide celebritard culture prevailing in US politics. The Hate-America left despises Middle America which quietly returns the favor. The numbers are with Middle America.
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    es6913,

    Have you just started watching or paying attention? Experience or lack thereof has been a central issue ever since this whole thing started. It's only obvious to ask the question; since McCain has been doing it all summer. And your comment about respect for women is just silly. The only reason you seem to be siding with Hillary is because she isn't on the ticket. If she was, I'm sure you'd be one of the first people telling everyone how evil you think she is.
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    Let me see if I understand. A Chicago politician chooses a career Washington insider and tells us we need change. A Maverick Republican, who has worked effectively with someone like Ted Kennedy on major legislation, picks a woman, married to a union member, who has cut government spending and confronted government corruption--that is change.