The Real McCain Veep
Sep/03/08 12:34 PM
So I’ve finally got a free minute to post my thoughts on McCain’s startling VP pick, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. Overall, I’ll give the pick a B-. Here’s why:
All of McCain’s serious VP choices had at least one serious flaw. Romney’s too wealthy in tough economic times. Lieberman is too liberal. Pawlenty isn’t very fierce. Ridge is pro-abortion. You get the picture. So, McCain either needed to settle for someone well known like those mentioned above or make a game changing move that would draw attention to a campaign fighting the media’s obsession with a rock star. He chose the latter. Though there is still huge potential for the pick to fall on its face, it seems to be working...
In the days since McCain announced his running mate he has raised over $10 million, a huge amount for his campaign. Conservative grassroots activists, vital to past Republican victories, have been freshly energized with Palin’s pro-life, pro-gun, and pro-family views and actions. Reporters, still struggling to get back on their feet after being blown away by the surprise, prematurely claimed that the pick was designed to pluck dissillusioned female, Hillary voters from Obama’s hands. Palin is much more than that, though. It would be naive to think that liberal-minded, pro-abortion women are going to hop on the Republican bandwagon simply because of a female VP candidate (remember... pro-life, pro-motherhood positions seem to remove a woman’s status as a female to the NOW/NARAL crowd). Sure, McCain may pick up one or two of Hillary’s more conservative voters, but the numbers won’t be that great. Instead, she has turned the focus of the race back to McCain. Amazingly, no one even seems to remember Barack’s historic speech the night before (which wasn’t all that bad of a performance, actually).
So, what now? Yes, Palin is still a huge gamble. She doesn’t have much foreign policy experience. Okay, she went to Kosovo once. Big deal. She’s younger than even Obama. She comes from a really small town in a really big, far-away state. But, she’s a woman that the majority of Americans can identify with. She’s a mother. She’s an outdoorsman. She didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in her mouth. She’s even dealing with the unplanned pregnancy of her teenage daughter- a real life situation all too common these days. Overall, she’s a shot in the dark. But, in my opinion, a shot worth taking.
All of McCain’s serious VP choices had at least one serious flaw. Romney’s too wealthy in tough economic times. Lieberman is too liberal. Pawlenty isn’t very fierce. Ridge is pro-abortion. You get the picture. So, McCain either needed to settle for someone well known like those mentioned above or make a game changing move that would draw attention to a campaign fighting the media’s obsession with a rock star. He chose the latter. Though there is still huge potential for the pick to fall on its face, it seems to be working...
In the days since McCain announced his running mate he has raised over $10 million, a huge amount for his campaign. Conservative grassroots activists, vital to past Republican victories, have been freshly energized with Palin’s pro-life, pro-gun, and pro-family views and actions. Reporters, still struggling to get back on their feet after being blown away by the surprise, prematurely claimed that the pick was designed to pluck dissillusioned female, Hillary voters from Obama’s hands. Palin is much more than that, though. It would be naive to think that liberal-minded, pro-abortion women are going to hop on the Republican bandwagon simply because of a female VP candidate (remember... pro-life, pro-motherhood positions seem to remove a woman’s status as a female to the NOW/NARAL crowd). Sure, McCain may pick up one or two of Hillary’s more conservative voters, but the numbers won’t be that great. Instead, she has turned the focus of the race back to McCain. Amazingly, no one even seems to remember Barack’s historic speech the night before (which wasn’t all that bad of a performance, actually).
So, what now? Yes, Palin is still a huge gamble. She doesn’t have much foreign policy experience. Okay, she went to Kosovo once. Big deal. She’s younger than even Obama. She comes from a really small town in a really big, far-away state. But, she’s a woman that the majority of Americans can identify with. She’s a mother. She’s an outdoorsman. She didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in her mouth. She’s even dealing with the unplanned pregnancy of her teenage daughter- a real life situation all too common these days. Overall, she’s a shot in the dark. But, in my opinion, a shot worth taking.
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