Vice-President Picks

Remove all ads!

It's a poor gamble, and a "gimmick" instead of a candidate. There's no other reason he chose her. He's obviously still "working" the Hillary and woman vote, since the fire went out in that one at the Democratic Convention. If he chose someone like Kay Bailey Huchinson (thank God he didn't), he could have made a case for her being an "expereinced leader" and someone who is really very "consevative." Instead, he chose a former young beauty queen with almost no experience. Desperation does funny things to people....

She may want to borrow someone's brains to bring to the debate....

 

Actually, I think she's very smart and she's done a few things in her time in office that I find impressive. That said, she's not much of a debater, from what little I've seen on her on YouTube. I agree with you that Kay Bailey Huchinson would have been a much better choice. She has experience coming out her ears, she's VERY far to the right, and the base already knows her and loves her. If the "let's bet on the girl vote" gambit is really the way they wanted to go, I can only assume McCain's people found a major skeleton in Hutchinson's closet when they were vetting her...

 

My comment was really more "aimed" at the idea of someone who can lug a rifle to a debate, rather than bring something of real substance. We've had too much image and not enough substance in politics for far too long. That's great about her being for the "Second Amendment" and all, but there are 10 in the orginal Bill of Rights. Do the other nine count as well?

 

Well now, how about if we just burn her in effigy before we actually learn anything about her? Or perhaps tie her to the anti-republican bandwagon and drag her in the streets before giving her a chance. After all, heaven forbid she actually has some thoughts on running the country, or perhaps some ideas at reforming an executive branch of government, or even a little experience with the domestic issues.

The little I've heard is actually quite positive.

 

What? How am I burning her in effigy? I criticized McCain while complimenting her. I'm personally fine with her, and I'll be interested to follow her future career. But I simply don't think having her on the ticket makes much sense, as it smacks of desperation and a need for a gimmick. My comments are exclusively critical of McCain's choice in a strategic sense. Spare me the "anti-Republican bandwagon" nonsense, please.

 

At least the GOP is only using a gimmick for the VP spot on the ticket thank you thank you, I'll be here all week. Try the fish.

I will have to remember that as so many people always seem to want to forget that the 2nd exists.

Well said. I am very curious to learn more.

EDIT: As an aside, the convervative bloggers seem to be very pleased. This is a dramatic change as for months they were not overly enthuastic about having to vote for McCain.

 

Thanks for the warning.

I'll settle for the bad jokes, but I'll pass on the fish, since it's probably been packaged in China and has lead in it.

 

Seems an inspired choice actually. She's young, photogenic, apparently anti-abortion and most importantly - a woman. She's not bringing her state to the party, but nevertheless I think McCain just won this thing - with one caveat. He may still die in the middle of his term, leaving the US with its first female president.

 

Funny you should say that. I was talking to my dad (who is a life long Florida Democrat who will not vote for Obama) and he is now convinced he won't vote at all. He was considering voting for McCain if Romney was the VP as he also doesn't think McCain can survive 4 years nevermind 8.

 

A strange choice, to be sure, and potentially disastrous for the reasons DR set out. I think a couple of weeks of campaigning will answer the questions.

But if it was McCain's intention to make a startling or "gimmicky" choice he certainly overlooked the most obvious candidate: Dick Cheney! "Four More Years!" "Four More Years!" Now there's a campaign slogan!

 

I'm planning a more thoughtful rundown of what I see to be the pros and cons of this pick - and I do find it fascinating. But for now, here's something that occurred to me earlier: What if Palin wasn't his first choice? What if he's been turned down by someone (or two, or three) whom he really wanted (and given his past statements, made far more sense and didn't directly contradict his own stated standards for the office) and was forced to make a hasty last-ditch pick to make his self-imposed deadline for this morning? By several accounts, McCain has spoken to her only twice in his life, and only offered her the job in the last few days.

That said, evidently both Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty are pissed off that they were strung along and not offered the job, which, if my above theory is correct, indicates they were never in the running to begin with. Hmmm...

Ah, late night thoughts.

 

Never scorn your enemies, because one day, you may be just like them:

Ronald Reagan

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2008/08/30/palin/index.html?source=rss&aim=/opinion/conason

 

Well, I will safely state that I have not heard much about her... She seems to have the right ideology for a conservative VP, but is more than a little lacking in the XP, so to say . It is interesting to think what this would mean for the two campaigns and potential administration styles - Obama chooses a very experienced running mate, while McCain picks a relatively unknown figure that might not have policy experience but may have a certain media charisma. I would presume that McCain will have to scale the VP office's prerogatives if he wins... she is not likely to be a new Dick Cheney, imo.

As an outreach to women voters, it may work and it may not - it's a pretty obvious move imo, and no one likes an obvious ploy - and though many of Hillary's ex-voters may have some resentment towards Obama, a careless move by Palin may well push them in his direction, for the same reason.

 

No matter how much Mac wants to be prez, consider that if something happens (like his cancer returns) this media star will have to run the most powerfu office in the country. This is serious business, despite the conservative politics. Mac is only thinking of his own ambition. He is a genuine war-hero and a patriot who should know better. The RNC really must have their claws in him. I understand Mac doesn't even KNOW her.

 

Chandos, you've repeatedly claimed to be an independant, yet you already have derogatory pet names for McCain and won't even give Palin a chance. There's not even a hint of neutral assessment in your comments -- that really sounds more like a hard core democrat to me.

 

T2, has Chandos ever made any bones about being a capital-L liberal? Being independent and being moderate aren't the same thing.

 

Please explain to me how having a media-star a heartbeat away from the presidency is worse then having a media-star be the President.

How an Obama supporter can feel that way has me baffled.

 

TGS -- I thought the comment by the Obama camp was quite puzzling. A spokesperson stated that McCain just put a person with no foreign policy experience a heart beat away from the presidency.

Two things come to mind with such a statement. The first being exactly your point -- if Obama wins the president has no experience. On the job training for the VP would be preferable to on the job trining for the president. The second thing: it sounds like the Obama camp was conceding the election already. I think their comment was not well thought out.

Drew: I understand the liberal part -- but to publicly declare independent also implies neutrality and a desire to weigh the options. Name calling at this juncture shows clear partiality (partiality is not a bad thing, the name calling is unnecessary, though).

 

TGS - I can understand, because at first, I felt much the same as you at the beginning of Obama's run, and I thought Hillary would be the obvious choice. But Obama has been preparing for two years to become president and that can't be overlooked; Palin had no idea that she would be chosen for vice president by Mac. At first she commented that she was quite "confused" by the whole thing.

T2 - Now that you mention it, you don't seem to be much of a independent yourself, and that's not a slight, just an observation. For years I was a member of the Green Party when Ralph Nader was there; since then I've been drifting around just looking for a "few good liberals." The Dems seem to be headed that way, which makes me think that I should look closer at the Democratic Party. But I'm still not committed, just somewhat excited about what I see happening there.

 

On "conceding"...you've got to be kidding me. On the comment, I agree - that was dumb. Campaign spokespeople occasionally stick their feet in their mouths, and that appears to be the case here. That Obama spokesman clearly didn't think that statement through before issuing it, and I find it very hard to believe, as disciplined as the Obama campaign has been so far, that that announcement came from the top. It'll be forgotten in a day. But either way - calling it a campaign-ender is quite a reach.