Why Sarah Palin is a piss-poor VP choice (and I am not afraid).
I'm startled at McCain's VP pick, not because it's Oh So Shocking that he'd go with a woman but that he'd pick this one.
She's currently embroiled in a major scandal. She's under investigation for having abused the powers of her office to punish her sister's estranged husband and the government official who initially stood in her way. That's some substantial corruption right there and the lefty pundits need to jump on it.
She's painfully inexperienced. She's only been governor for a year and a half (and governor of a state with a tiny population, at that). Prior to that, she was the mayor of a town with a smaller population than some apartment buildings in New York. She has no foreign policy experience and I've seen no evidence that she's in touch with the needs of voters outside of Alaska. McCain's age and health make this an even more salient consideration for the Republican than the Democratic party this go-'round. And picking someone this laughably inexperienced completely undermines McCain's most effective criticism of Obama.
She's young and flashy. This just emphasizes how old and wooden McCain is by comparison. It's a hollow criticism for me to offer of a candidate, but it's something that will scan to audiences and I don't think that the comparison will bring new Republican voters into the fold.
She's an ideologue. She's anti-choice AND a creationist. Yeah yeah yeah, McCain had to go with an anti-choice pick or else the base wouldn't swallow it, but that makes it harder to court moderates and the so-called PUMA voters.
...which brings us to...
The PUMA voters are largely a myth. This is not the strategic demographic to court in this election. Only a handful of delusional, diehard Hillary supporters would (a) vote for McCain out of spite and (b) would be even MORE likely to do so if he chose an anti-choice female running mate, especially given the firm endorsement by all of the Clintons for the Obama/Biden ticket. Far, far more members of the sexist, set-in-their-ways evangelical base would be unwilling to show up with a woman on the Republican ticket, period. And given that this one isn't a Schlafly clone, she's an extra tough sell to those.
I feel like she's a choice out of desperation. And Biden's going to eat her alive in the debate.
She's currently embroiled in a major scandal. She's under investigation for having abused the powers of her office to punish her sister's estranged husband and the government official who initially stood in her way. That's some substantial corruption right there and the lefty pundits need to jump on it.
She's painfully inexperienced. She's only been governor for a year and a half (and governor of a state with a tiny population, at that). Prior to that, she was the mayor of a town with a smaller population than some apartment buildings in New York. She has no foreign policy experience and I've seen no evidence that she's in touch with the needs of voters outside of Alaska. McCain's age and health make this an even more salient consideration for the Republican than the Democratic party this go-'round. And picking someone this laughably inexperienced completely undermines McCain's most effective criticism of Obama.
She's young and flashy. This just emphasizes how old and wooden McCain is by comparison. It's a hollow criticism for me to offer of a candidate, but it's something that will scan to audiences and I don't think that the comparison will bring new Republican voters into the fold.
She's an ideologue. She's anti-choice AND a creationist. Yeah yeah yeah, McCain had to go with an anti-choice pick or else the base wouldn't swallow it, but that makes it harder to court moderates and the so-called PUMA voters.
...which brings us to...
The PUMA voters are largely a myth. This is not the strategic demographic to court in this election. Only a handful of delusional, diehard Hillary supporters would (a) vote for McCain out of spite and (b) would be even MORE likely to do so if he chose an anti-choice female running mate, especially given the firm endorsement by all of the Clintons for the Obama/Biden ticket. Far, far more members of the sexist, set-in-their-ways evangelical base would be unwilling to show up with a woman on the Republican ticket, period. And given that this one isn't a Schlafly clone, she's an extra tough sell to those.
I feel like she's a choice out of desperation. And Biden's going to eat her alive in the debate.