The crew on Morning Joe was convinced this morning that it would be McCain-Mittens '08. So much for that.
In a surprise move, Senator John McCain chose Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate on Friday, shaking up the political world at a time when his campaign has been trying to attract women, especially disaffected supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, McCain officials confirmed.I just can't shake the sense that this is a stunt nomination. Sarah Palin is a hardcore conservative in terms of abortion, gun rights, and gay rights. But there are obviously a lot of people on the right who fit that description.
In choosing Ms. Palin — a 44-year-old conservative Christian and self-described “hockey mom” who has been governor for less than two years — the McCain campaign reached far outside the Washington Beltway in an election in which the Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama, is running on a platform of change.
Ms. Palin, a former mayor of the small town of Wasilla and beauty pageant queen, first rose to prominence as a whistle-blower uncovering ethical misconduct in state government.
The Palin selection seems designed to shock the media and supress Obama's bounce from the convention. I can't think of anything else that she brings to the ticket.
Yes, she is a female vice-presidential nominee, and that is newsworthy, but she can't even lay claim to being the first or her kind. Geraldine Ferraro got there first.
If McCain is hoping to attract disaffected Clinton voters, I'm sure he has the PUMA vote locked up - all 250 of them - but he had them anyway. Palin is hostile to everything that Clinton Democrats believe in, and reproductive rights is only one of the core issues that separate a Democrat like Hillary from a Republican like Palin.
And if McCain genuinely wanted a woman on the ticket, was Sarah Palin the best choice?
Two years ago, Palin was the mayor of a town with 8,000 residents. She has been governor of Alaska for a year-and-a-half. In one motion, the McCain campaign has deprived itself of the "experience" argument that it has used against Obama to no small advantage. Now, the GOP can't use that tactic without explaining why Palin, who was a small-town mayor two years ago, deserves to be one heartbeat away from the presidency.
On MSNBC a few minutes ago, Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison damned Palin with the faintest praise imaginable. Not suprising, that. Hutchison herself would have brought greater experience and a stronger argument in her favor to the ticket. What about Condi Rice? What about McCain's buddies Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina? Either one of them could make as strong a claim to being ready for the White House as Palin could.
John McCain is said to be fond of gambling. Here's your proof.
