5
comments
Sunday, August 31, 2008
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.
