When I heard that McCain had chosen Palin as his running mate, my first thought was Michael Palin of Monty Python fame. But much like the Python's Spanish Inquisition, no one really expected the choice of Gov. Sarah Palin from Alaska. Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Condaleeza Rice, Gen. Colin Powell, Gov. Bobby Jindal; these are names that I expected to hear in terms of the nomination. All of them (perhaps with the exception of Romney) would've been sufficiently outside of the "WASP" category to allow McCain, the quintessential old white guy in politics, to compete with the historical nomination of Obama. And all of them would accomplish the goal of diversity without having people wonder "Who is this person?".
So who is Gov. Sarah Palin?
Wikipedia tells us she's 44, current Governor of Alaska, previously chairperson of the Orwellian-named Alaska Oil and Gas conservation commission. The bulk of her political experience comes from Wasilla, AK, a town of around 8000 people where she was Mayor from 1996-2002.
Although she hasn't been Governor for long, she's made a big splash. She exposed Alaska Republican Party Chairman for some shady dealings he made while working at the Oil and Gas commission, she defeated the incumbent Governor Murkowski in the Republican primary, won the general election, and then auctioned off the jet that Murkowski bought on Ebay. From these instances we can see a picture of someone who's not afraid to stand up for what she believes in, who wants to get rid of the excesses of government, and who has accomplished great things in her limited time in politics.
Palin will be a great pick to energize all of those people that were going to begrudgingly vote for him because he was a Republican, but really didn't like him because he wasn't conservative enough. It also might help to distance McCain from the Bush presidency by showing someone who is a conservative, but isn't one of the good ol' boys, reinforcing McCain's image as a maverick. But for those of us who really don't have a clear decision made of whom to vote for, the swing voters, and even the Hillary supporters thinking about voting Republican, the pick makes absolutely no sense.
McCain is the oldest man to ever get the nomination for president, he's also a cancer survivor, a torture survivor, and, if elected, will have the most stressful job in the world. If the average life expectancy in the us is 75 years old, there's a good chance he wont make it through his first term, let alone 8 years. What that'll leave us with is a former Ms. Alaska runner up, who's bulk of experience comes from running a town that is smaller than the University of Idaho she got her B.A. in Communications. She'll also have 2 years of experience running Alaska, a state that is less populated than my hometown of El Paso, Tx. What about her foreign policy experience? According to her spokesman, she's traveled outside the country twice, once to Ireland, and once to Germany and Kuwait to visit the Alaska National Guard troops. If and when McCain kicks the bucket, is this who we want leading the country?
And what about other things in her life? Does a mother of 5 young children, one of whom is 4 months old and has down syndrome, really have the time to be Vice President, and maybe president?
Gov. Palin is surely an accomplished woman, and probably incredibly hardworking, and intelligent. Perhaps she would and will make an excellent VP and, if needed, commander in chief. But it's hard not to wonder if McCain didn't go out of his mind with the choice. At the very least, he's going to be eaten alive in the media for it, and at the very worst, in a moment of national tragedy, he could leave the country with someone completely unprepared to fill his shoes in the Oval office.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
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5 comments:
As some one that was gently leaning towards McCain and hoping that at the least he wouldn't ruin his reputation as an independent thinker, this selection is awesome and reinforces why I like this guy.
I was truly afraid he was going to pick Mitt to satisfy the party. Anyone else would have been decent, but this is a change.
She took on financial corruption in one of the few states that doesn't have a budget problem. She did it just because it should be done. She is for smaller, more effecient governemnt - opposing the spending and increases of the Dems. She doesn't have much experience right now. But if you are willing to give Obama credit for running a campaign as foriegn policy experience - how long would Palin have to be in office as VP before she would get that much experience - 6 months, 12 months? McCain can last at least that long.
There are going to be some struggles as her history comes out and we find stupid things that she did at that party in college. But I think that in the long run this is a very good pick. At least another interesting reason to keep following McCain. And barring some really shocking change my vote is set.
The VP pick is one of few decisions during the campaign that are more than just pure rhetoric. This choice, especially for McCain considering he's older than the State of Alaska, seems particularly important. While it does show that he's "a maverick" as we've been told 451 times an hour he is, it also gives some insight into what kind of decision making process he has.
The selection of Palin, while it might prove to be wise, seems a bit reminiscent of the worst of the decision making of the Bush Presidency. It seems like a "Lets just do it, and deal with the consequences later" decision that has led us to things like Iraq.
While the conservative base might love it, and maybe even some on-the-fence voters, you'd think that things like her pregnant daughter, her husbands involvement in secession, her affiliation with anti-Semite groups, etc, would have all raised red flags and made them consider other options.
I'm sure the Republicans will end up coming ahead in this one. They've always been better at campaigning than the Democrats and they will find a way to turn all of the attacks, insults, etc, back on Obama somehow. But I just cant shrug the feeling that the selection lacked the discretion necessary for a Presidential decision. I guess time will tell.
Isaac - Right now the closest candidate to truly 'small-government' was eliminated in the primary. Neither major party is small government. I think the Republicans are smaller government - maybe not by much.
I am a huge fan of the domestic Carter policies. Clinton I think overall was a very good president (though he was the benificiary of a lot of the work the H.W. did). I think Reagan increased the deficit mostly through cuts in taxes. H.W. had to deal with falling revenues from bad economic times - he even committed political suicide and raised taxes to try and fill the gap. W. cut taxes and increased spending.
Overall, the government is spending too much. Niether party is particulary interested in reducing it (partially through honoring previous commitments and partially because they do not want to). It has been that way for a long time.
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