August 29, 2008
McCains VP Pick Sarah Palin--Some Of The 'Cons'
At a time when everyone is pointing out the 'pros' of McCain's pick of Sarah Palin to be his running mate, at The Corner, Ramesh Ponnuru points out some of the 'cons':But more than any other pick McCain could have made, this one will make things interesting.Inexperience. Palin has been governor for about two minutes. Thanks to McCain's decision, Palin could be commander-in-chief next year. That may strike people as a reckless choice; it strikes me that way. And McCain's age raised the stakes on this issue.
As a political matter, it undercuts the case against Obama. Conservatives are pointing out that it is tricky for the Obama campaign to raise the issue of her inexperience given his own, and note that the presidency matters more than the vice-presidency. But that gets things backward. To the extent the experience, qualifications, and national-security arguments are taken off the table, Obama wins.
And it's not just foreign policy. Palin has no experience dealing with national domestic issues, either. (On the other hand, as Kate O'Beirne just told me, we know that Palin will be ready for that 3 a.m. phone call: She'll already be up with her baby.)
Tokenism. Can anyone say with a straight face that Palin would have gotten picked if she were a man?
Compatibility. It doesn't seem as though McCain knows Palin well. Do we have much reason to think they would work well together?
Debates. Maybe, as Jonah said the other day, Biden will look like a bully going up against her--and maybe she'll shine. But I can think of a lot of other picks who would have been lower-risk.
by Daled Amos
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"Tokenism. Can anyone say with a straight face that Palin would have gotten picked if she were a man?"
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Can anyone say with a straight face that Obama would have been the dem candidate if he were white?
She's a good choice, conservatives should quit nitpicking.
And by making the daring choice of a woman, McCain not only has targeted Hillary Clinton voters, but has stolen Hussein's thunder the morning after his big coronation spectacle. Anyway, I wonder how that egomaniac is handling the fact that the spotlight has been taken away from him today after all the money and effort put into that tacky show last night?
Posted by: Laura at August 29, 2008 8:37 PMFantastic decision all way around, and best possible choice for Israel and the war on terror in general I might add. (based on her church, since I too attend an Independent Bible church and know well the worldview that goes with that)
Posted by: Cindy at August 30, 2008 1:38 AMThis has gimmick written all over it. Not a good choice in a sense that this woman makes my blood curl at the thought of her running the white house.
On another hand, many Americans may just be stupid enough to fall for it....
Posted by: Ms. Missive at August 30, 2008 11:38 AMJust being in the PTA gives her more experience than Obama has ever done.
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2008/08/mom-of-5-from-pta-to-us-vp.html
Just keeping a family of seven organized is more challenging than anything he's done.
Posted by: Batya at August 30, 2008 4:24 PMWould her support of Pat Buchanan in 1999/2000 against Bush affect anyone's perspective here?
And would it play well in the Florida precincts that didn't intend to vote for Buchanan, but wound up getting counted that way?
Posted by: Bruce at August 30, 2008 8:22 PMActually, Bruce, she did not support Buchanan.
o According to the McCain camp: "She wore the button as a courtesy to Mr. Buchanan and in an effort to make him feel welcome during his visit, but immediately sent a letter to the editor of her local paper clarifying that the button should not have been interpreted as an endorsement of any kind."
Has anyone bothered to check the paper?
o According to the McCain camp, in point of fact, Palin ended up supporting Steve Forbes.
Anyone bother to check that out?
o Sure enough, ABC actually confirms this:
"And indeed, another AP story from August 7, 1999 -- one month after the Buchanan trip to Wasilla -- states that joining state sen. Mike Miller of Fairbanks on the Forbes campaign's Alaska 'leadership committee will be Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin, and former state GOP chairman Pete Hallgren, who will serve as co-chairs.'"
Now Bruce, while we are on the topic of associations, maybe you can clarify Obama's connection with:
o Terrorist William Ayers
o Rashid Khalidi
o Tony Rezko