Sarah Palin…Really?
Max Godnick
Really? Seriously John Mccain? Sarah Palin? Sarah fucking Palin? That’s what many Americans woke up to on August 28th. After weeks of speculation primarily focused on Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, America woke up to find a virtual unknown on the GOP ticket. Sarah Palin, the 44-year-old two-year governor of Alaska, found herself catapulted onto the national stage when she was chosen to be the senator’s running mate.
Now it’s clear what Mccain’s intentions were with the pick. No pundit or analyst is needed to examine why Palin will be the Vice Presidential nominee. The decision was two fold. On the one hand, Palin represents the kind of maverick change that McCain so desperately is trying to embody. A true Washington outsider, Palin brings no real political baggage into the campaign. But the real reason Mccain made this pick is because Sarah Palin is a female. Obviously trying to scrape up Hillary Clinton support, Mccain is trying to show that he is the real friend of women, he is the one “risky” enough to choose a woman whereas his opponent, in his view, sheepishly did not. McCain is hoping to convince women around the country, specifically those who are on the fence Hillary supporters, that he, not Barack Obama, has the interest of the gender in mind.
This all sounds good, and in truth, Palin was probably Mccain’s best bet. But again, to it all I must say….really?
Does McCain seriously expect Americans to buy a vice presidential debate of Biden v. Palin; The Senate’s most experienced foreign policy expert facing off against someone with virtually no experience in the area? The image is almost laughable.
Does McCain seriously expect Americans to buy that a woman who was the mayor of a 5000 person town just a mere three years ago should be placed in a position where is she is a heartbeat away from the presidency? That a woman who has never given a national speech could be the leader of the free world?
Does McCain expect Hillary supporters to mindlessly drift into the GOP column? All that is needed to thwart this drift is a speech or two by Hillary Clinton in which she proclaims her true allegiance to Barack Obama and professes that a vote for Sarah Palin is a vote against her.
Does McCain really think voters will take the Senator seriously after six months of criticizing Obama for not being experienced enough when he selects someone with essentially no experience to join him on the ticket? What does this say about McCain’s true intentions?
Yes—I think McCain really believes all this, but I don’t think Americans are going to buy it. When all the convention dust has settled, I think most Americans will see this as a mistake. Sarah Palin is not ready to lead and she will fail in her attempt to court Hillary democrats.
But hey what do I know?…McCain really could be right.
August 29th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Two. A speech or two. Other than that, I agree in spades. A very risky and hypocritical move on Mccain’s part. Never heard of Palin since her beauty queen days. Had no clue she wandered into politics. Had a fantastic guest star role in Northern Exposure. That’s enough experience for anything, I think.
August 29th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
I don’t know if I’m watching a comedy or a tragedy. It blows my mind that Mccain would select a “hockey” mom with only 2 years experience as Governor in a state of only 700,000 people as vice president. I assumed that Bush and Mccain’s similarity’s were confined to policy, how disturbing to find that Mccain shows similar ineptitude in appointing members to his administration. What next, Brown for secretary of state? Harriet Myers for secretary of the treasury? Bush has already time and again shown the cost of incompetence, even a wealthy country such as this can’t afford for more years of the same.
Not to mention that the lady is obviously in over her head. Who cares if she’s sexy or personable? I don’t want Joe six pack any more than i want a soccer mom running this country, I want a political hardass with a brilliant mind and good instinct’s, and I don’t value ideology nearly as much as competence. When we are living in one of the most complex and troubled times, both at home and abroad, such a pick is both as terrifying as it is incomprehensible. It appears that the merger between American idol style pop culture and politics have finally merged completely. God help us.
August 30th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
He picks someone who has admitting to knowing nothing about iraq or exactly “what a VP does on a day to day basis”
its a scary world
August 31st, 2008 at 12:18 pm
quite ironic, all this coming from supporters of a once community organizer from chicago. yes shes a risk, but this is politics, obama is winning the election, its what mccain had to do.
brilliant choice
August 31st, 2008 at 1:16 pm
very very well said my friend, whoever you are.
September 1st, 2008 at 3:48 am
When the primary’s first started i was a staunch Biden guy. I know that Obama gives great speeches, but I have don’t think he can deliver on most of his promises.. Picking Biden to shore up the ticket helped a lot in persuading me to vote for him, although I still have reservations about his experiance level. I think if he gets in he’s gonna get knocked around a lot as he learns the ropes. There’s no question in my mind that Mccain is a man of great integrity, but I think he will take the country down the wrong path if he wins.
The difference between Obama and Palin is that Obama has experience, albeit limited, in working on a national level. Palin stated to reporters that she didn’t know what a vice president did. Regardless of what ideological spectrum your from, I would think that would scare the hell out of anyone thinking about voting for him. Sure she’s got executive experience but in a state with a population 1/5 that of Chicago awash in Oil revenue it doesn’t match with what she’ll see on a national stage.That’s like picking the mayor of Tulsa for vice-president.
Her entry to the ticket helped Mccain shore up his conservative base and might pander to a few disaffected democrat’s,but he can no longer effectively argue that his ticket is more prepared, when he’s got a vice-president incapable of effectively leading if he dies. Not to mention this choice put’s the focus back on his age, instead of his idea’s.
I’m think it’ll be really interesting to see how well Palin does against Biden in the debates.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:00 am
It is shortsighted and hypocritical of Gov. Palin’s critics that, should events suddenly propel a vice president Palin into the presidency, they do not allow her the same solution that Sen. Obama has adopted for his lack-of-experience problem – simply select a vice president with the requisite skills. In other words, if it is acceptable for Barack Obama to pull a Joe Biden, why not acknowledge that Sarah Palin could do the same? A Joe Libermand maybe?
November 4th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Palin does not have any of the credentials to become VP. She wants to teach creationism alongside evolution in schools and supports ending D.C.’s 32-year-old ban on handguns. Let’s not forget about her resume: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, and 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people. She obviously doesn’t make very good choices, her spouse for example has been below the law before, nicknamed the “First Dude”, with at least one DWI conviction, no college education, who didn’t register to vote until age 25, and was once a member of a group that wanted the secession of Alaska from the USA. I don’t love Biden but ANYONE would be better then Palin (except George Bush…)
November 4th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Oh yes, she also can’t put together a proper sentence. Now how is she going to be a role model for the rest of America?????????