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American Presidency: Let's get Eric!
Elki
get busyModerator, ClubPA Mod Emeritus
get busyModerator, ClubPA Mod Emeritus
The Economist wrote:NEVER let it be said that politics deals no surprises. After weeks of speculation about his choice for vice-president on the Republican ticket, John McCain bypassed the names most often mentioned, such as Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney. On Friday August 29th he chose a little-known candidate—Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska for less than two years.
Ms Palin is the first woman on a Republican ticket; by selecting her the McCain campaign will hope to expand its reach to female voters, though she may be a tough sell to disaffected supporters of Hillary Clinton. Born in small-town Idaho, Ms Palin moved to small-town Alaska when she was a child. She is a former beauty queen and a keen sportswoman—her aggressive style of playing basketball earning her the nickname “Sarah barracudaâ€. As a mother of five she will be able to empathise with other hard-pressed female professionals balancing home and career.
Opting for Ms Palin may also go some way towards soothing the nerves of social conservatives, who were aghast at Mr McCain’s recent suggestion that he would not necessarily rule out picking a vice-president who supports abortion rights. Mr McCain may have heeded the warning that such a selection would cause “the base†to stay at home on election day; one poll found that 20% of McCain supporters would be less likely to vote for him if his veep was pro-choice. But Ms Palin is a staunch Christian, a member of the National Rifle Association, and enjoys fishing and hunting.
Although she is popular with conservatives, Ms Palin will not be able to cement the evangelical wing of the party to Mr McCain in the same way that the selection of Mr Pawlenty would have done through his strong ties to the National Association of Evangelicals.
But the risks of choosing such an unknown quantity are enormous. An important aspect in selecting a vice-president is to reassure the electorate that should anything happen to the man in the Oval Office there is a competent and trustworthy stand-in ready to take over. John McCain’s age (he is 72) is an underlying factor with voters. Although Ms Palin’s youthfulness, she is 44, is an eye-catching contrast to the top of the ticket, questions will be raised about her ability to run the country if Mr McCain should ever be incapacitated.
And the tenures of both Al Gore and Dick Cheney as vice-president have raised the profile of the office. Vice-presidents were once expected to be solid and reliable but mostly boring. Messrs Gore and Cheney took on policy portfolios, such as government reform or preparing for war with Iraq. Barack Obama’s pick of Joe Biden for the role now seems all the more wise.
By choosing the governor of Alaska as his running mate, Mr McCain also turns the spotlight on the state’s politics, which is currently entangled in corruption scandals. Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator ever, faces corruption charges in relation to building work on his home. Other state officials are under investigation in separate cases. And Alaskans are going through a period of introspection about politics and energy interests, on which the state has thrived.
Mr McCain lauded Ms Palin's “record of delivering on the change and reform†needed in Washington, DC, and clearly recognises her as a fellow maverick. She was elected as Alaska’s youngest ever governor in 2006, a bright spot in a dreadful year for the Republican Party, which lost control of Congress in the mid-term elections. She arrived in Juneau, the state capital, with a squeaky-clean agenda, vowing to reform the state’s politics and root out corruption. She built a reputation for taking on the state's big oil interests with their links to the Republican Party. However, Ms Palin has become embroiled in a minor scandal concerning the sacking of a state trooper, though she adamantly denies any wrongdoing. The state legislature is now investigating the whole affair, to Ms Palin’s embarrassment.
Still, come Monday and the start of the Republican convention in Minneapolis-St Paul, there will be a new star in the Republican firmament. Whether she will help or hinder Mr McCain’s campaign against Barack Obama is far from clear.
The Economist's Blog wrote:"Don't bully her"
MANY are saying, on the talk shows this morning, "Joe Biden has to be careful not to appear to be bullying Sarah Palin in their debate." I wrote it myself the other day. But I'd like to walk it back and explain it. This is actually bad news for John McCain. In many cases it's conservatives saying this. They are unconsciously reinforcing an idea—regardless of whether it is true—that she is is so weak or inexperienced that she can be pushed around by an American senator. Many will wonder whether she's ready to handle Vladimir Putin if she can't handle Joe Biden.
Elki on
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She'll have no net impact on McCain's chances to win the election is how I interpreted it.
That she gives as much as she takes away.
Oh damn it. Can I change mine to bad then?
If I were simply getting my information from The Economist, I'd actually feel better about the election, but their attempts at being 'objective' as-of-late often have them planting a flag too firmly within the right-wing spin than I'm comfortable with.
The Economist has always had a strong (European) liberal slant. They don't pretend otherwise.
Whether this bears out or not, you have to consider whether it could have borne out with any other veep slotted in to begin with. I considered her choice a vile and despicable ploy, but I'm willing to honor that it was a risk that may necessarily have had to be taken ... for all the wrong reasons, unfortunately. Politically? A great pick, even if it makes my stomach churn.
On the whole it will likely drive some moderates and the lingering Hillary "I don't really like Obama" malingerers into Obama's open arms. And like most of the political freakshow that gets trotted out for an attention grab, she'll probably fade into the back either when people weary of her annoying accent and/or her incompetence. She'll show up for the VP debate and look good on certain questions where you can give a mindless, one sentence answer but be Biden's punching bag for anything that is remotely complex. You'll also see the McCain camp try to force her to the back so that the mouthpieces that go on the networks won't be struggling to come up with new ways to call her "experienced" when 80% of the nation knows she's a fucking rookie.
Anyone?
The Democrats would do the same thing.
He's betting on the POW card deflecting criticism.
I know. Seriously, what the fuck happened to the Economist?
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
BREAKING NEWS - McCain Reveals Republicans Are Not Americans
I don't know, man. I make it a point to avoid any of their political commentary and read everything else.
They are psyched that Bush & Cheney won't speak at their convention now. They basically want Wednsday (maybe) and Thursday after the NFL opener. Basically it seems they are not gong to have a convention this year now, just a single speech.
QEDMF xbl: PantsB G+
Yeah, but I used to be able to get good commentary out of them, even when- and sometimes especially if- I disagreed. Nowadays they seem to be blindly parroting the talking points of American media. Identifying McCain as a maverick? Seriously?
If this wasn't an election year? I'm thinking they'd eat cake.
Gustav won't help much because while Bush won't appear, they lose some convention bump and it'll remind people of Katrina.
QEDMF xbl: PantsB G+
I third this. It's like the have no idea what the hell is going on.
Yeah, I actually like their bias since they come right out and admit to it.
In regards to their coverage, I think it's mostly a concern over Obama's economic policy -which has been both populist and doctrinaire Democrat at times- and a desire to consider McCain from the 2000 vantage point rather than the 2008.
There is no way she doesn't realize it's a recent thing, right? Funnily enough, McCain is old enough to remember the introduction of the phrase, but Palin is young enough that it happened before she was born.
This is almost as good as the time that the Republican Whip in congress got into an argument with Chris Matthews stating that "It's the commander in chief's role to decide when to go to war, congress has no place in national security."
I do but then I remember that these people are in positions of power. Then I just get sad.
And beyond the actual phrase, the Pledge of Allegiance wasn't even invented until 1892.
QEDMF xbl: PantsB G+
That's why I put she'll hurt him. It's obvious nobody vetted her, and with that being the case something is almost certainly going to come up that shines poorly on her/McCain.
"If English was good enough for the Bible..."
Now I get to just enjoy the show as McCain's core message implodes and women turn on his pandering ass.
To be fair, Putin just shot a tiger, I'm not sure anyone is quite ready to handle him.