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I applaud John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his vice president nominee. In many ways this choice was far more impressive than Barack Obama's selection of Joe Biden. Better yet, the McCain selection will make the general election campaign far more interesting and competitive.
I say this on the basis of looking at contradictions that the choices raised. Here we have Obama proclaiming endlessly that he was running against the politics of the past, but then he picks an extremely long term senator that is clearly a member of the status quo establishment. Moreover, Obama has kept boasting that he does not take money from lobbyists, but Biden has taken plenty. And then there is the claim of great judgment by Obama for his opposition to the Iraq war, but Biden played an important role as a Democrat in supporting the Bush war.
Palin is a much, much better match with McCain. One relatively small contradiction is that she favors more drilling for oil in Alaska's pristine areas, while McCain has opposed that. But beyond that Palin brings something to the game that none of the other three principals does: She is the only one with real executive experience. And in comparison to the other three she has far more solid accomplishments fighting political corruption. Indeed, while Obama talks a good game, Palin is the only one that showed the courage to personally go after high level corrupt politicians - even better, she did this against office holders in her own party. I am impressed. Finally, the whole narrative about the Obamas pulling themselves up from nothing to achieve great things is matched by the Palin story.
During the Democratic convention there was endless talk by the bloviating pundits about their sadness that women have not made it to the top of the political pyramid, even as they kept blabbering about how terrific Hillary Clinton performed. Now McCain puts a woman in exactly the position that so many Democrats wanted Hillary to be in, with a chance to make it to the White House - a very good chance if all the talk about McCain serving just one term (or dying in office) has any chance of happening.
In sum, the selection of Biden was a betrayal to some very important positions and claims of Obama. In contrast, except for one relatively minor position, the selection of Palin was in sync with McCain's political philosophy and positions. The more leftist, progressive side of the Democratic Party has no reason to be thrilled with Biden (who voted for a bankruptcy law that screwed middle class people). But the most conservative wing of the Republican Party has plenty of reason to be thrilled with the Palin selection.
Though Palin may not be sufficient to draw very many women Democrats to vote for the McCain ticket, it may be just as important because it cause many women Democrats to not vote for the Obama ticket. But like most conventional thinkers you are waiting for me to rebut the criticism that Palin has no foreign policy experience. Excuse me, but we have had a few presidents that were governors - think Carter and Clinton - who also had no particular foreign policy experience. So Democrats ought to be cautious in making this criticism of Palin. If McCain wins, she would have ample time and opportunity to become smart about foreign policy. And, oh yes, also remember a former governor Reagan that did pretty well when it came to foreign policy. Enough said.
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2:37 PM, 08 29 2008 | Permalink
Couldn't disagree more, Joel, as my article just prior to yours demonstrates. She represents most of the very criticisms McCain has launched at Obama, no foreign policy experience, no economic credentials, lack of political experience.
Appears McCain really is an unreliable, untrustworthy, and unpredictable 'Maverick', since his record of consistency on values lie on opposite sides of the universe when it comes to his judgment of Obama vs. Palin.
And there is no comparison between Obama's selection of Sen. Joseph Biden with enormous experience in these areas, and McCain's choice of a first term Gov. of Alaska, home of Sen. Ted Stevens under indictment for hiding contributions by a wealthy special interest.
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Jerry Bean said at :
2:49 PM, 08 29 2008 | Permalink
I don't think so Joel. Romney would have upped McCain's chances, but, a 1st term governor no one has heard of and one without the experience McCain said Obama lacked, worsens McCain's chances as I see it.
Jerry Bean | August 29, 2008 2:49 PM
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David R. Remer replied to Jerry Bean at: :
4:20 PM, 09 01 2008 | Permalink
I don't think so, Jerry.
Romney would have pitted two multi-millionaire elites against the kid who made good on the American dream through education, hard work, and choosing to serve others as a mainstay of his career. I think the public would have had a hard time believing McCain/Romney had anything other than growing their own investments through government legislation.
At least, that line of critique would have been exploited by the Obama campaign and very likely, successfully.
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Roy Ellis said at :
4:28 PM, 08 29 2008 | Permalink
I'm anti Dem and anti Rep but I am surprised by McCain's choice. I have heard she is tough on corruption and I do know that five of Alaska's finest are either indicted, in jail, or, like Stevens, going to trial sometime in the NEXT TEN YEARS. Kind of intriguing, like the Kennedy clan when they were hiring the mafia to do a hit on Castro and at the same time RFK was trying to throw the mafia in jail. Just leaves outsiders shaking their heads. So, I do like her looks!!
Roy Ellis | August 29, 2008 4:28 PM
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David R. Remer replied to Roy Ellis at: :
6:49 PM, 08 29 2008 | Permalink
Roy, yes, from what I have read, she has made her political career opposing blatant corruption in Alaskan government. Will she hold true though, in federal office?
She has an inherent conflict of interest when it comes to energy policy, just like Dick Cheney. See, the State of Alaska pays funds 80% of its state budget from oil and gas revenues at the time of extraction. (Hence her being for drilling in ANWR).
But given that one of the main objectives for America is ridding ourselves of our dependence upon fossil fuels, and exporting that technology to the world, how could she possibly champion such a policy knowing it would eventually kill the revenue stream for her home state of Alaska?
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Rachel Wicks said at :
5:59 PM, 08 29 2008 | Permalink
If McCain thinks this gimmick is going to play through to November, he is dead wrong. Hillary Clinton is not exchangeable to more than 98% of here supporters. We supported Hillary, not her absence of a penis. McCain's choice, in light of her lack of experience to step into his place, does reflect the belief that women vote for women regardless of party or policy issues. What an insult to women like me.
Obama's stature just went way up for me.
Rachel Wicks | August 29, 2008 5:59 PM
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David R. Remer replied to Rachel Wicks at: :
6:51 PM, 08 29 2008 | Permalink
Rachel, see my reply to you in my Article in this Indies column.
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d.a.n said at :
9:06 AM, 08 30 2008 | Permalink
I think it was a mistake for helping get McCain elected, and many women may find it insulting, since there's not much voting record to examine, and not much time left to clear up the unknowns. And what does oil in ANWR possibly have to do with this?
d.a.n | August 30, 2008 9:06 AM
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David R. Remer replied to d.a.n at: :
1:11 PM, 08 30 2008 | Permalink
d.a.n, she would be 1 heartbeat from the presidency. Her insistence on Alaska's ownership of the oil on Federal Lands with rights and entitlements to override federal preserves, national parks, or any other publicly held assets like communications bands, if there is a profit to be made from it, speaks to her policy influence on McCain and direction if she becomes president.
It speaks to her State's Rights core even to the point that the national people should have no federal assets on some issues and her absolute rejection of State's Rights on others like abortion, in which she would overturn any and all federal legislation which permits any kind of abortion.
In other words, it speaks to her motives to delay and prevent an energy policy that would move us off fossil fuels, and subvert individual rights protected by federal law on the other hand according to her own personal value system and philosophy. People in government are not entitled to craft laws according their own personal beliefs under our system. The executive branch's role is to enforce laws crafted by the American people's representatives in the Congress.
Palin has absolutely no sense of this Constitutional design and would ignore its precepts and design in favor of her far right values agenda. In other words, another 4 or 8 years of GW Bush.
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Roy Ellis said at :
10:07 AM, 08 30 2008 | Permalink
Well, in my opinion a VP sits around and waits for a tie vote in the Senate. Or, like Cheny, he supposedly floats around to a different hangout every week. A VP should look nice, have good posture, a good personality, etc. and she seems to have those attributes. Now, if you are in cahoots for business like Bush and Cheny then the VP can become very active in the background, undercover, covertly, etc. Classifying of information went up something like 65% during the Bush tenure. I do believe he recently got approval for yet another level of classification probably for purely business related stuff such as Cheny’s meeting with the oil patch gang. Relative to oil, from what I’m hearing the country is energy independent. Major oil reserves in Alaska have been tapped and capped and are there for use sometime in the future. Alternative energy won’t gain a 50% market share for another 20 years or so. Seems both she and McCain want to drill, whatever that means. I tend to like this new lady more than Hillary.
Roy Ellis | August 30, 2008 10:07 AM
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d.a.n said at :
3:00 PM, 08 30 2008 | Permalink
David, I agree. Oil has something to do with it. We have oil in many other places that aren't being drilled (or drilled much). There are 229 Million acres in 5 states with the most oil, and oil companies are not drilling or exploring those regions. It appears quite likely that the complaints about not being allowed to drill in ANWAR and off-shore are actually a deception to distract from the fact that oil companies have lots of places to drill, but aren't, because the oil companies don't want to create more supply to reduce prices. And not drilling more is not illegal.
There are some people, motivated by greed, who do no want us to become independent from oil. There are also some people, motivated by greed, who want to line-up for huge pork-barrel, corporate welfare, and subsidies for alternative energies. The voters are likely to get screwed either way as long as voters repeatedly reward bad politicians with perpetual re-election.
At any rate, the voters have the government that the voters elect, and ree-elect , and re-elect , and re-elect , and re-elect , . . . , at least, until that becomes too painful.
d.a.n | August 30, 2008 3:00 PM
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Gordie said at :
11:59 AM, 09 02 2008 | Permalink
The Palin Clan should keep fanning the home fires because the duties of VP are far beyond the capabilities of Sarah Palin, and here's a couple items that show she traded her so-called "executive experience" for poor family planning and management.
1) At 44-years old she takes a chance on a high-risk pregnancy and delivers a Downs Syndrome child into the world. That needful child will require maximum loving and care of the mother -- that's Sarah. Ask yourself if the Vice President of the United States of America can handle her very specialized motherly duties at the appropriate level for this child. I think not. And if McCain's bubble bursts and she has to step in temporarily or permanently -- what a mess that would be for "We The People...".
2) While her mayorship and her governorship are riding high building "executive experience" and not being mindful of her own family management, her oldest daughter is doing the horizontal bop with some Alaskan stud and gets pregnant. This Christian family is imploding while she builds a political empire. What a poor manager of family -- and both McCain and those bleeding heart conservatives think she is a good pick for VP.
A 'NO' vote for McCain and Palin is the right decision for America!
Gordie | September 2, 2008 11:59 AM
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David R. Remer replied to Gordie at: :
3:31 PM, 09 03 2008 | Permalink
Gordie, of course she will be able to take care of her child with special needs. She will have government health insurance paid for by the taxpayers. You know, that same health care she would deny to the rest of Americans.
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