With the tapping of Sara Palin, John McCain has made yet another error in judgement. No longer can McCain and the Republicans criticize Obama for lack of experience after choosing a running mate with 2 years of experience as Governor of Alaska, a state with less than 700,000, and whose only other experience came as the Mayor of a small Alaskan town of approximately 8,000 people.
Clearly McCain is pandering to disaffected Clinton voters with this selection. And he may be trying to neutralize any advantage Obama might have as being America’s first African American President by trying to make history for the Republicans with the first woman VP. The Republicans are so afraid to pit McCain against Obama that they plan to use Sara Palin as a shield to divert attention away from McCain’s uninspiring candidacy and abysmal legislative record. The Republicans will try to recreate the divisive Democratic primary by pitting Palin against Obama and Biden to invite attack and then argue that the Democrats are being dismissive of her accomplishments, and by extension, dismissive of women. If the Democrats take the bait, it could spell disaster for their chances in the general election. Instead, the Democrats need to stay focused on McCain.
But consider this, a point made by Paul Begala and James Carville, CNN analysts (and yes, former Bill Clinton strategists, in the interst of full disclosure) – John McCain is 72 year old cancer survivor. If he were to be elected President, and If, heaven forbid, something were to happen to him and he could not carry out his term, Sara Palin, former small town mayor and one term Governor of one of the least populated states in the country, would be the next President of the United States. Enough said.
Filed under: Politics | Tagged: CNN, James Carville, McCain's VP, McCain's VP selection, Paul Begala, Politics, Republicans, Sara Palin |
Ribbie's Weblog 
I am so angry by this selection it’s not even funny. This is such an insult.
Oh, and trust me, I’m sure that they have probably told her that if indeed something happened to McCain she would have to step aside. I don’t believe that they really expect her to fill the role of POTUS. Otherwise, they would have actually brought in a woman who could actually do the job.
Notice how when people say “enough said” there is usually a lot more to say? Is this a literary device that hopes to stifle opposition of a flawed argument? I wasn’t one way or the other initially on the Palin selection, but after seeing how the Democrats attack her (“lack of experience,” et. al.) I think she might be a great pick. Will Obama take the bait and criticize her lack of experience? I think not. Any attacks on her lack of experience will only highlight his own–at the TOP of the ticket! McCain didn’t pick a senator with no executive experience. It seems the republican and democrat tickets are now about equal. Tell the truth, what ticks you off is Gov. Palin is an unabashed conservative. It’s not about gender, it’s about ideology. Any pick McCain could have made that you would respect would be the BAD one. It’s going to be an interesting nine weeks.