Posted on 08/29/2008 10:31:47 AM PDT by americanophile
Don’t kid yourself…John McCain just put all his chips on the table and rolled the dice.
Over the past many months, McCain’s team had skillfully underscored the natural impressions of Americans – that Barak Obama was the lightweight in the race; the candidate of risk. Now, with a single stroke McCain has undercut his most effective argument. He has weakened his case for wisdom and experience, and elevated a one-term governor of a small-population state based on her gender.
McCain had plenty of safe choices. Choices that would have bolstered Americans’ inherent understanding of McCain’s competency and ability; choices that would have underscored the longstanding notion that whatever gimmick the Democrats try, the Republican Party remains the serious one.
With the electorate evenly split, McCain’s first job was to pick a competent running mate that would not undermine his standing, and would reassure voters that should something happen to the oldest man ever to be nominated for president, a competent, experienced leader, ready to serve as commander-in-chief in a time of war, was waiting in the wings.
The former Miss Congeniality, and hockey mom from “the last frontier” is a bizarre choice.
McCain’s pick today has all the hallmarks of a political gimmick and a hail-Mary pass. While it is likely to excite some conservatives, his choice will refocus the entire campaign away from Obama’s status as a political neophyte and will reshuffle the risk calculus in the favor of the increasingly familiar, and always-eloquent Obama. With Biden on the ticket, Obama has lessened the sense that he poses a serious danger to the electorate. McCain’s selection by contrast is likely to shake voters and cast uncertainty on the wisdom and safety of a McCain presidency.
With competent and proven individuals waiting in the wings such as Governor Mitt Romney, the selection of Sarah Palin is a most unfortunate choice.
John McCain may have just lost the 2008 election…cue the hurricane.
Romney would have been the best pick.
This article highlights the problems with Sarah.
Sarah was a tactile choice. She was picked because she is a woman. Make NO MISTAKE about that. What she can do is peak the truth about oil and the polar bears. She has possibilities but by no means is she proven. We are hopeful that she has what it takes.
Not that it matters ... but I sorely wanted Mitt. He would be the best pick but McPain felt the need to cow tow to bigoted Evangelicals who HATE Mitt because he is a Mormon. Instead of being evangelicals ... they chose bigotry over prayer for those that are not saved.
So all things considered ... I understand why McPain picked her. Make NO BONES about it Sarah was a tactile pick and what tipped it over to her was the mere fact that she is a white woman who will hopefully woo disenchanted Hitlery voters based on her gender. Sarah appears to be a good woman but if she was a guy, she'd have been passed over - it was strictly a choice made on gender - TACTILE choice. I endorse her.
That you, Chucky?
You go boy! LOL!
Yep.
He doesn't even have a birth certificate.
Wouldn't that be something to see?
Governor Palin is proven on pro-life and pro-guns. She has 80+ approval ratings. What approval ratings for Romney? Very low
http://wbztv.com/local/Mass.Insight.Boston.2.578841.html
“John McCain may have just lost the 2008 election…cue the hurricane.”
I think this article completely misses the point. This a stroke of sheer genius. This sets things up so that the Republicans put the first woman President in office, which steal a LOT of Democratic thunder.
I don’t have a big problem with her experience so much. We can assume McCain won’t drop dead his first year in office.
I do have some reservations about her speech though- it was fine for the state political level, but this is the major leagues and I have a hard time imagining her as President of the United States after seeing the speech. She looks very young and not any gravitas that I can detect.
This selection was primarily based on her gender. If it was a man with the same level of experience in the same state of Alaska, they would not have even been considered by McCain.
Get over it, GOPublius.
I was hoping he would pick Eric Cantor.
But NOW I get the best of both worlds. A REAL conservative on the Repub ticket (which “Mitt” definitley is NOT), AND I get to keep Mr. Cantor as my Congressman.
I am very pleased.
And if GOPublius thinks Romney would have been a better choice then he/she has rocks in his/her head. Mitt is basically just McCain Jr. Ms. Palin provides real balance to the ticket.
I'm not too much different from where you stand, just a little different weight on the respective feet. I'd have readily voted for McCain/Romney, but preferred Mrs. Palin.
It IS a bit of a risky choice. There ARE negatives to her candidacy. The author here makes the valid point that this mitigates the effectiveness of the argument about experience against Snob-ama, especially if looked at superficially (if one looks a little closer, one can see that Mrs. Palin has accomplished more in a couple of years as governor than Snob-ama has in his entire lifetime).
But it is a bold, exciting move, it shows a commitment to social, fiscal, economic, and foreign policy conservatism, and has a significant chance to bring all the energy, momentum of the campaign to the Republican ticket.
I think that Sen. McCain is showing the American people that he is a creative, imaginative, incisive and bold leader. This pick fits in that overall perspective.
Good going, Sen. McCain. Good luck, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin!!
I'll be making my contributions in the next day or so!
sitetest
This was Josh Hamilton at the All-Star Home Run derby, all 28 home runs worth. That was a Reagan speech we saw today.
At last I can hold my nose and vote for McCain.
Just that she now gives McCain the opportunity to "flip" (to the right side) on ANWR drilling.
The good old boys have just realized that 2012 is no longer in play. Mrs. Palin is a serious (and possibly the only) contender for the top of the ticket next go ‘round.
Of course this also kills Hill’s chances for a big comeback in 2012, as well.
What a beautiful morning.
My wife, an anti-Obama voter who might have made it to the polls to unenthusiastically cast a vote for McCain as the lesser evil, is electrified.
I’m in the “electrified” camp, that we have a potential real conservative leader for 2012, or 2016.
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