McCain adds Palin as Running Mate – Too Early To Tell
For some inexplicable reason, John McCain added Sarah Palin to his ticket as his Vice President. I have thought a lot about WHY he would do such a thing. Many of my friends seem to think that this is a death blow for the McCain presidency. I am not sure. Since this is front of mind for me today, I thought I would attempt writing an op-ed piece, although I have never formally written ANY “piece” for publication outside of technical journals.
Pros:
- Palin will help with the far right wing conservative vote. Palin is anti-gay marriage and pro-life (two things McCain apparently is not)
- Palin is a young 48 44 (offsetting McCains clearly advanced years)
- Palin is a raising star in Republican Party, clearly charismatic with a varied background which should make her appealing to “Joe and Jane Public” (Just call me Joe)
- In case you missed it, Palin is a woman. Perhaps McCain is thinking this will help him with the female vote? (I for one believe this country is prepared for a female Vice President! Heck if Hilary was not so despised, she would have had a reasonable shot at being president!)
Cons:
- Palin has limited experience in politics: She has served as governor of Alaska for only two years, with little government experience beyond that (Not necessarily a bad thing)
- Palin is governor of ALASKA! I love Alaska, it is beautiful, but certainly our 49th and least populated state is not strong resume material – The democrats will pick this apart in the coming months.
- In case you missed it, Palin is a woman. (”What?!??!” you are thinking, “dummy listed that as a Pro!”). This one is a double edged sword. I believe McCain will draw some support from the female moderate democrates he would not have otherwise had, he also will lose some support from the more sexist moderate male democrates who might otherwise have voted for McCain.
I am not certain how much Sarah Palin will help McCains presidential aspirations, though in aggregate, I think it might have helped him. What would help him more is Gustav not causing too much trouble during the Republican National Convention.
I don’t think it would bother me so much if it wasn’t such an overt political move…that just leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
Ummm, this is politics son, of course it is overtly political! Everything both sides is overtly political!
Hey thanks for the feedback though, you are the very first commenter!
Sarah Palin is a great balance between substance and political motivation (and thank God John McCain is finally showing some motivation!).
Everything is relative in an election. There’s no ‘none of the above’. Relative to Obama, she’s a genius.
As a VP, I can’t think of a better person to provide the compass for the future of conservatism. As a president, I have every bit of confidence she would bring together a great cabinet and group of advisors to support her. I cringe at the thought of who will be in Obama’s cabinet.
Time will tell but it’s starting to look like my vote this November will be for someone instead of against someone else.