Like everyone else, John McCain’s pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate was a complete surprise. Personally, I was hoping for long-shot, former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge as his running mate, but his pro-choice stance on abortion might have been a nonstarter for the base.
Of course, Palin presents some risks: she’s only been Governor for less than two years, of a small-population state. People will wonder if she would be ready to be President should McCain die in office. She is also a social conservative that will be red meat for the Democrats.
That said, Palin maybe the smartest move by McCain.
Why? Because Palin could send a signal that a McCain administration would not be the third term of President Bush, but a new page for the GOP. Palin has styled herself as a reformer, a fellow maverick that has shaken up the political establishment in the 49th state, taking aim at the politics of corruption.
Yes, she is a social conservative, which will please the base. But her emphasis has been on reform, which just might attract independents and moderates.
Let’s face it, the President and Republicans in Congress have not done a whole lot to burnish the GOP brand. McCain has to break with the past and chart a new course for the party. As Matthew Continetti states:
The only way for him to win this election is to break with the national Republican Party. Mr. McCain needs to recast the party in his own image: anticorruption, pro-reform and fiscally and socially conservative.
In recent weeks, Republican strategists have urged Mr. McCain to run against the Democrats who control Congress. But that isn’t enough for Mr. McCain. By picking Ms. Palin, he has signaled that he will campaign against the Republicans in Congress, too.
Picking a Ridge or Pawlenty or Romney would not have shown that he is serious in changing the party. Picking Palin, though risky, does show that he is.
McCain has received flak for appeasing the right too much and I think there is a lot to that charge. He is caught between having to keep a base and reaching out to the middle. McCain is at his best in reaching out that reform-minded middle and Palin might just do that while keeping the base happy as well.
Is the Maverick back? Maybe. Just maybe.