McCain has spoken!

[kierthos]

And he has picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate. (You can start with all the jokes about how he tapped her later.)

Anyway, the question comes to mind... who? And the other question, why?

As for the who, she's young, she's not a crusty old white guy, and she's only been the Governor of Alaska for the last two years. She does not have major political chops, and so everything that Republicans have been saying about Obama... well, it could also be said about her. (She was, however, the runner-up for Miss Alaska in '84, and she probably looks better in a bikini then 99.4% of the rest of the Republican party. Now, while you are adding the brain bleach after thinking of McCain in a two-piece, I shall continue....)

So, she doesn't have a lot of experience in politics, but that's not nearly as big a detriment to a VP candidate as it is to a Presidential one. She also hunts, ice-fishes, and has a lifetime membership with the NRA, so even though she's a woman, she'll please the pro-hunting and gun-nut crowds. She also seems to have no problems airing the dirty laundry of other Alaskan politicians, including those from her own party, so it continues with the whole "maverick" image that McCain is trying to cultivate.

Politically, she appears independent of big oil in Alaska (which is a major trick) as delwin points out, her husband works for BP and she's for drilling in ANWR, she's pro-life (and pro-death penalty...) and opposes same-sex marriage, but vetoed legislation that would have banned Alaska from giving benefits to partners of gay state employees.

So, that's a bit on the "who" side of things. Now, why?

I mean, let's face it... all the pundits and talking heads were assuming someone like Romney or Huckabee or even Lieberman would get the nod. Hell, the local paper this morning listed the "Top 5" choices, and she wasn't one of them.

So, why?

Well, she does bring something new to the campaign. Let's face it, everyone knows who Romney and Huckabee and all those other guys are. We already know what probably 95% of their positions on things would be. And we also know that, well, most of them wouldn't help the McCain ticket that much. Much as there are claims of Democrats not wanting to vote for Obama because Hillary Clinton got snubbed, there are Republicans who wouldn't vote for McCain if he had chosen Romney (because he's a Mormon) or Lieberman (because he's Jewish) or Huckabee (because he's fucking insane). And no, Guiliani was never in contention. Sorry for the three people who still like that guy, but he wasn't.

Picking Sarah Palin also give McCain a boost in terms of women voters who are undecided, reassures the pro-life crowd, and draws attention away from the fact that McCain is himself, a crusty old white fart. Picking Palin, in fact, could be the smartest thing McCain has done so far in the election cycle. It will also pull attention away from the just-finished Democratic convention, and give the talking heads on the right (and the left, for that matter) something to talk about.

Of course, I fully expect one or more of the group of Pat Buchanan, Robert Novak, Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly to completely lose their fucking minds about this choice, and that meltdown should be fun to watch as well.

Comments

[delwin.livejournal.com]

"Politically, she appears independent of big oil in Alaska"

her husband works for BP.

[kierthos.livejournal.com]

Oh well, scratch that then.

She's probably pro-drilling in ANWR then.

[delwin.livejournal.com]

Yep

[kierthos.livejournal.com]

Well, it's not like I was going to be voting for McCain no matter who he picked. I still find it an interesting and unexpected choice, though. (And I imagine a lot of the talking heads shit themselves a bit in surprise.)

[delwin.livejournal.com]

Actually I've been mostly on the fence, an the DNC had me leaning Obama's way but this rebalanced the scales. She's very reformist and very anti-corruption. I do want to know what's up with her firing her brother in law when he filed for divorce from her sister though... that doesn't look so good.

Energy may well be the final deciding factor though - and so far nothing McCain has done leads me to believe he can actually get us off foreign oil, let alone off drilled oil.

[cuddlycthulhu.livejournal.com]

Now, while you are adding the brain bleach after thinking of McCain in a two-piece, I shall continue....

Damn your eyes.

With that being said, here's my assessment of the situation:
1. I agree 100% with your statement of why he didn't pick one of the primary Rep candidates.

2. She's a young politician with little to no scandal (though according to the AP her Rep legislature is investigating her for dismissing an official for not firing his brother-in-law (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080829/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_veepstakes).) If Obama wanted to he could have Biden point out that not even Republicans like her.

3. I disagree with what you say about lack of experience with the VP in general and specifically for a couple of reasons. Bush gave a lot of responsibility to Cheney (or zombie-Cheney just took it); by chosing Biden, whose experienced in both national and international politics (something that can't be said for Palin), he can rely more heavily on his VP for assistance. The specific reason is this: should Obama win and be assassinated, Biden at least has decades of political experience to use to run the country; if McCain breaks a hip and his health takes a dive, we'd be left with a President whose political experience has been the mayor of a town that no one outside of Alaska have ever heard of and two years as the governor of one of the most politically remote pieces of real estate in the US.

4. Even with all those points listed above, I believe that they'll really be overshadowed by the general question of "Who the fuck are you?" I think that there also might rise up a question of whether or not a governor from Alaska really knows the rest of the nation enough to be the VP. I mean, if he wanted to pick someone on that level who would have better name recognition he should've gone with Jindal (though I'm glad he didn't because I personally can't stand that weird looking, ID lover).

5. I do think that this will inspire a lot of conversation, but if Dem talking heads are smart, they'll start picking on her lack of global experience in comparison to Biden and her more extreme stances.

6. While picking her was a very safe bet politically, I think there was one major reason why she was picked. It doesn't have to do, really, with any of her stances. I point out the Republican PUMA attempts.

[cuddlycthulhu.livejournal.com]

Word is that the three favorite letters for today among many Republicans is WTF.

[the-corruption.livejournal.com]

YOU. ARE SUCH. A TOOL.

You honestly think two years as a US Senator equals two years as a Governor?

Your memory is leaving you. They used the SAME "no experience" thing against Bill Clinton because all he'd ever done was be a Governor.

Personally, I'd rather have a Governor as president than any fucking Senator alive. I mean, BIDEN!? Seriously!? Biden's such an asshole that the other Democrats shy away from him. I personally think he's the reigning Prince of "We in government are smarter than those we rule" crowd. Right in there with VP Cheney.

Honestly, out of the whole group, I like HER a HELL of a lot more than McCain/Obama/Biden. I mean, I see McCain as a drag on HER ticket.

My guess, is that Rush goes gung-ho for her (because that's what he does), and the rest will hem and haw and support her through clenched teeth. NPR will be the swing vote, it'll be interesting to see which direction they go. My money is they'll twist it something horribly, like question her motherhood.

[kierthos.livejournal.com]

No, I don't think it's the same. Being a Governor is a helluva lot more work then being a Senator. But it's still only two years of experience.

And Bill Clinton had been Governor of Arkansas for, what, 12 years? ('79-'81, '83-'92)

And yeah, Biden is a dick. I never said he wasn't. (Actually, have I ever mentioned Biden before today? Oh yeah, I basically said, "Biden? WTF?")

Damn my eyes?

[kierthos.livejournal.com]

Too late. *points to icon* :P

I'll admit, it helps having a VP with some experience and credentials. But like I said, I don't see it being nearly as big a sticking point as the Republicans harping on Obama's lack of experience. Yes, it is going to get brought up. But probably not as often.

Now, when it comes time for the VP debate, Biden should, and probably will cut her apart. He has got the experience, both politically and in public speaking. The only thing he's got to watch out for is that double-edged sword when dealing with a female politician. You treat her too rough, and you're picking on a woman. You handle her with kid gloves, and you don't respect her because she's a woman. (You know, the same kind of tactics Hillary Clinton tried to use.)

And yeah, she was probably chosen, in part, to help bleed off some of the die-hard Clinton supporters who are still upset because she didn't get the nomination. But her relative obscurity is probably going to offset that a bit.

We'll have to see.

Re: Damn my eyes?

[cuddlycthulhu.livejournal.com]

And yeah, she was probably chosen, in part, to help bleed off some of the die-hard Clinton supporters who are still upset because she didn't get the nomination.

True, but her pro-life, and even more importantly very anti-choice, (along with her obscurity) will help push some of those people back to at least a Democrat vote (or I'd hope anyway). Such views aren't really big with the feminists and I'd like to think that female, feminist voters would take a good look at her stances rather than solely at her genetics.

[cuddlycthulhu.livejournal.com]

Let's not forget that Regan was also Governor of California for eight years.

Re: Damn my eyes?

[cuddlycthulhu.livejournal.com]

BTW, nice icon. *grin*

Re: Damn my eyes?

[mierandra.livejournal.com]

That double edge sword is an interesting thing- if you try to swing it yourself, you inevitably cut your own head off. If you ignore it and let it swing itself, it can work for you.

I hope she's smarter than Hilary and goes with the latter instead of the former.

[mierandra.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I wasn't expecting McCain to pick somebody I could actually maybe live with if he kicked the bucket.

[kostika.livejournal.com]

My fear though is that the general voting public will boil it down to:

"Do we want a woman or a black man in the white house?"

I'll be voting for Obama despite my misgivings on some of his ideas.

If McCain gets in I'm not coming back while he's the President.

[the-corruption.livejournal.com]

Well, you see, we HAVE LOTS of politicians with experience. Some with literally hundreds of years worth *coughkennedycough*, and where has that gotten us, hmmmm?

Experience in politics is NOT something I revere. The more experience, the more crooked, as far as I'm concerned.

I mean, look at Biden. He tells everyone as soon as he's done at work (the senate), he goes home to Delaware or wherever the hell he spawned from. This is primarily because he's never invited to anything in Washington, as even the other Democrats shy away from him. He's an embarrasment. He can't keep his mouth shut, and feels confident expurging himself of all his REAL, deep down opinions on others. Generally this becomes a tyrade on how stupid WE are, and how much smarter HE is.

And, for the record, THE person who made Obama's lack of experience as a news issue was...

Hillary Clinton.

Solely responsible. Primarily because no Republican has the balls to actually criticize anything or anyone Democrat, for fear of losing special interest money.

[mithras.livejournal.com]

And the favorite five letters are:

VPILF

[kierthos.livejournal.com]

I figure, even with the limited access that the press had to his health records, that he has a much higher chance of having Alzheimer's or some other age-related disability, then he does of dying.