Here’s a bit of a surprise. McCain’s pick for vice-president is 44 yr. old Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a self-styled “hockey mom” who has only been governor for a little over a year. (She was a small town mayor before that.)
Apparently, she’s staunchly pro-life, adamantly pro-drilling (as you can see from the video above), pro-gun, and terrifically popular in her home state. She’s the mother of five children, the youngest of whom was born in April and has Down Syndrome. Expect to hear a LOT about that.
Red Tory v.3.0.3 
I guess they’re hoping to pick up the Hillary supporters. Seems a long-shot.
Interesting comments she made about the potential VP slot a month ago though:
In an interview just a month ago, she dissed the job, saying it didn’t seem “productive.” In fact, she said she doesn’t know what the vice president does. Larry Kudlow of CNBC’s “Kudlow & Co.” asked her about the possibility of becoming McCain ticket mate.
Palin replied: “[A]s for that V.P. talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the V.P. does every day? I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that V.P .slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here for the rest of the U.S., before I can even start addressing that question.”
Benalbanach — You can be certain they’re hoping to pick up a lot of those “Debra’s” although her hard-line pro-life stance might pose a bit of a problem with the Hillary crowd. But their support of McCain makes no sense anyway, so go figure.
Interesting conflict right off the bat here given that she’s all gung-ho for drilling in ANWAR, but McCain is still opposed to that despite his “drill, drill, drill!” mantra.
Scott — I should have titled my post “McCain’s Warm Bucket of Piss.” Might not have gone over too well with some folks though. 😉
Hey! You should have warned me that that clip featured Glen Beck …someone who I would have a hard time not strangling with my bare hands, chiefly because I’m sure he’d look exactly like Bart Simpson when Homer chokes him.
His smarmy, unctuous enquiry into the condition of the Governor’s special needs child made me puke and I had to stop watching at that point.
That McCain, he’s such a Maverick!
Or desperate calculating political opportunist….
It is an interesting pick. I don’t know enough about her to say whether it will help or not. My understanding is that typically a candidate will pick a VP in a swing state to help move it into his/her camp, but Alaska has always been Republican.
Palin replied: “[A]s for that V.P. talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the V.P. does every day?
If she’s still unclear about it maybe she ought to have a little chat with Dick Cheney. 😉
Well, here’s another little tidbit on Ms. Palin: seems she’s been embroiled in a bit of a scandal up in Alaska, which seems to be common these days for Republican politicians from that state: seems she’s under investigation from investigators that Palin abused her office by pressuring the state Public Safety Commissioner to fire “an Alaska state trooper involved in a rough divorce from Palin’s sister.”
Nice choice, if that were to pan out, eh?
I’m baffled. All I can figure is the fact that she is young, a woman, opposes abortion, gay rights, pro-oil.
Maybe they figure this fresh, energetic face won’t be confronted, or if she is, it will help them with disaffected Clinton supporters?
But, geesh, the arguments about no foreign experience just went out the window. Is McCain promising not to die at any point? And there is some investigation going on right now about possible interference in a firing of a state trooper who was going through a messy divorce with her sister (?). And one of her plusses is she’s a “reformer.” Ok.
I am listening to David Gergen, who just said, “You could have knocked me over with a feather.” He actually seems to be scrambling to find things to say about her.
The surprise factor? Yes. But how long will that last? And is it pleasant surprise if you’re biggest supporters are scratching their heads this morning?
People say that folks don’t vote for the VP, but I’m not sure what this says about McCain as he celebrates his 72nd birthday.
Why not Tim Pawlenty? Heck, even I like him, which is why I thought he posed the most challenge to Democrats.
I’m awaiting moderation! egads.
Sorry if I offended, Red.
But not that post??? strange
I’m baffled. All I can figure is she is young, a woman, opposes abortion, gay rights, pro-oil.
Maybe they figure this fresh, energetic face won’t be confronted. Or, if she is, it will help them with disaffected Clinton supporters?
But, geesh, the arguments about no foreign experience just went out the window. Is McCain promising not to die at any point, if that by his own admission is the key factor in this election?
And there is some investigation going on right now about possible interference in a firing of a state official who didn’t fire a state trooper going through a messy divorce with her sister (?). That sort of counter-balances her “reformer” bit, dontcha think?
I am listening to David Gergen, who just said, “You could have knocked me over with a feather.” He actually seems to be scrambling to find things to say about her, with bafflement in his voice throughout.
The surprise factor? Yes. But how long will that last? And is it pleasant surprise if you’re biggest supporters are scratching their heads this morning?
People say that folks don’t vote for the VP, but I’m not sure what this says about McCain as he celebrates his 72nd birthday.
Why not Tim Pawlenty? Heck, even I like him, which is why I thought he posed the most challenge to Democrats.
All I can figure is she is young, a woman, opposes abortion, gay rights, pro-oil.
Maybe they figure this fresh, energetic face won’t be confronted. Or, if she is, it might help with disaffected Clinton supporters?
The arguments about no foreign experience just went out the window. Is McCain promising not to die at any point, if by his own campaign experience is the key factor in this election?
And there is some investigation going on right now about possible interference in a firing of a state official who didn’t fire a state trooper going through a messy divorce with her sister (?). That sort of counter-balances her “reformer” bit, dontcha think?
The surprise factor? Yes. But how long will that last? And is it pleasant surprise if you’re biggest supporters are scratching their heads this morning?
Oh, well, I have a few (repeat) posts in moderation, Red. Was cutting it down thinking it might be length, but it just doesn’t like me today ; ).
She’s a surprise, people seem puzzled. Not sure if that makes it a solid hit.
Stupid filters. Sorry about that.
Maaaaaverick? Court jester or Shock Jock more fitting.
The most cynical /typical/ conservative at work… showing the real picture how they think about woman and how they use them.
He Just made sure he will lose this election which is good.
marta
People just went wild over the fact that she is a mother of 5? I just don’t get it.
How many children are needed to elicit cheers? Is 1 or 2 worthy of silence, 3 lukewarm claps, 4 hearty claps, and 5 wild cheers?
Is that the scale?
And please please please delete at least 2 of my repeat moderated posts ; ), for everyone’s sake.
An interesting choice, may sway some disgruntled Hillary Dems, if they overlook the pro-life thing.
But the Repubs’ big argument against Obama is inexperience and youth, just one term in the Senate. McCain is really, really old, and they’re putting a 44 year old with one year as governor (and of Alaska) a heart-beat away from the presidency? Is she ready to be commander-in-chief if McCain has a coronary?
It would seem their inexperience attacks could be turned agaisnt them.
She’s commander of the Alaska National Guard. 😉
But yeah, seeing as McCain is 200 yrs. old today, her inexperience should be a concern, I suppose.
She’s awfully “winsome” though, as David Gergen put it this morning. (Doesn’t Gergen ever sleep, btw?)
And, she’s a member of the NRA….and they call the shots, no pun intended.
I heard her speak…..and she was overly in praise of Hillary Clinton.
Believe me, she’s not Hillary Clinton.
I can’t believe that women who supported Hillary would go for someone this narrow minded
Oops. I was watching The Daily Show / Colbert Report. You know — real news.
“I guess they’re hoping to pick up the Hillary supporters.”
mcacain already enjoys good support from women voters. i don’t think this move will appeal much to hillary’s crowd, but it’s sure to be a hit with the undecideds.
KEvron
You have to admit that Sarah Palin is pretty hot (remember she was in the Ms. Alaska Pageant) and MUCH BETTER on the eyes than Joe Biden. Oh and wait until you see the bikini pics!!! NOT BAD for a mother of 5.
http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=5055328
You haven’t seen Biden in a thong…
Well, as the morning unfolds, it becomes clear this is the play for appeal of core social conservatives.
That’s it. That’s the message the McCain camp is hitting in the forefront now.
Evangelicals are apparently hugging each other in joy this morning at a conference somewhere, by their own reports.
I just heard the words “Family Values” for the first time in this campaign.
Welcome Back!
I have to go puke now, and get to work.
Cheers!
Let the Culture War resume!
I don’t know…she’s got that American woman spazzed-out look on her face…eyes twirling in their sockets from too much/not enough psychotropic medication.
Fun fact: Her kids are named Track, Trig, Bristol, Willow and Piper.
This announcement has achieved one thing for certain. It’s stolen the thunder from Obama’s speech last night.
I wouldn’t put too much stock in her lack of experience or thin foreign policy credentials. She’s only the VP candiadate not the Presidential candidate.
Who the hell is Harry Truman anyway?
Heh. Did you know that FDR was only 51 when he became president? I just learned that last night.
Anyhoo, yes, it has taken the spotlight away from Obama, but that’s not such a bad thing. Personally, I was getting weary of non-stop Dems all day/night long. Aside from the speeches of Clinton, B. (vintage, should be bottled), Kerry (where the fuck was that guy in 2004?), Gore (a greatly unappreciated speech — could have been even better if he’d been projected onto the stage as a hologram!) and, of course, Obama’s epic, the rest was borrrrrrrring.
I think that this was a very smart strategic choice for McCain. It undercuts the “McSame” message of his Presidency being just more of the same as Bush, it shows in actions not just words that he feels a woman is capable of being President by having her as his alternate, it also helps with the gay community given her signing into law protection of benefits for gay State workers AND her first veto being used to block legislation attempting to block partners of those gay employees from collecting benefits (while Obama has ongoing problems with the GLBT community thanks to his use of known anti-gay preachers in his primary race), she raised taxes on oil companies despite their and fellow GOP opposition, and her husband is an Alaskan native American showing her to not be typical white bread GOP.
This further helps solidify the perception of McCain the maverick and not McCain the Bush flunky, which helps him. As to the argument that her inexperience cancels out Obama’s, that is not exactly accurate. After all he will be the President on day one if he wins with no time to observe how the job works, while she will have that and she has some executive experience unlike any of the other three (McCain, Biden, Obama are all Senators) as well which carries weight in the American political context. It is one thing for the senior to be the top of the ticket with a less experienced junior; it is not typical when it is the other way around which is clearly the case with Obama/Biden.
Sp strategically this was actually a very smart choice and daring, and may well help McCain a great deal (I am not saying it is a given that it will, but I do have to say I see the potential for it as being fairly good, especially given the amount of antipathy from many female Dems and independents to Obama after the primary) come November. No doubt there will be some drawbacks to show with her over the next couple of months, but somehow I doubt McCain would have chosen her without a fair amount of vetting, especially given how “out of the box” her pick was compared to the expected pool of choices McCain was considered to be considering. We shall see, but I would caution anyone that writes this off as no big deal that they are making a very dangerous assumption, at least that is my take on it.
Whe I saw the news ticker say, “McCain picks Palin for VP” I thought we might’ve found a conservative with a sense of humour.
We could’ve even had a secretary of silly walks.
She’s apparently younger than a couple of McCain’s kids.
She a beauty contest winner (came in runner up)- so is his wife
What is it with this guy…….hmmm….Cindy better keep an eye on that old man.
Scotian — Hey there, my old friend. Nice to see you back! Hope all is well with you and your significant other.
Regarding Palin, I’d agree with you that it would be wrong to underestimate her. I wonder how she’ll like some of the tactics being employed by the McCain team and being put in the role of “attack dog” (if that’s how she’s deployed). I’ll be watching with much interest.
RT:
Well, I updated Saundrie with the medical stuff so I won’t repeat it here, but the wife and I are doing as well as can be expected given our circumstances. I alas am out of date on Canadian politics as I took the last half year and totally stopped watching any news (as I knew I couldn’t watch just some without getting pulled into more and more, and given the stresses I was under I didn’t think that was wise, at least I got to catch up on my anime series online during this period…:)) so I am spending time going through certain blog archives to get a sense of what I missed before I get too involved in blogging again (although I will comment as I see fit) so it will be a couple/few weeks or so I expect before I am anywhere near up to speed. I won’t be doing so this weekend though thanks to other commitments but I hope it won’t take too long before I am up to speed and able to present my usual tedious long winded tomes that oh so infuriate the fans of Harper et al.
As to Palin, it will be interesting to see how she handles the attack dog role the VP choice is traditionally to play. However, one of the things I think she helps a lot with is solidifying the perception for GOP leaning independents and weak GOPs that this is a different ticket than Bushco and also in terms of drawing back the GOP women voters that were considering going Dem this time out either because of HRC or because of their own disgust with their own side’s track record especially under Bushco. So I think anyone that simply dismisses this as trivial is asking to be bit in the backside by that kind of assumption, and I think it was possibly one of the smartest moves I’ve seen from McCain yet in this season. It is easy to brush it off as tokenism (which wouldn’t surprise me is a factor) but she is also not a “safe” choice even among GOP women. He could have gone with Liz Dole for example of one of the other female stalwarts in the GOP but he didn’t, he went with Palin so I think saying this is pure tokenism actually obscures reality and not describes it.
The next couple of months are going to be even more interesting then they were looking to be, and that is saying something given what was already in play before this pick.
The criticism of her is that she has no foreign policy experience and that the Mayor of a town of 7,000 and a state with the population of Austin, TX (as Jack Cafferty keeps saying endlessly) just isn’t going to play on the world stage. What does she know about urban poverty, he asked. What does she know about the Middle East? And so on. It’s going to be interesting to see how the Republicans defend her lack of experience considering they’ve been hammering away at Obama on this point for weeks now.
RT:
I can see that, although the problem with that argument is that it also underscores Obama’s inexperience that much more since unlike her he is at the top of the ticket. There is also the case that her political history is not much less that that of Kaine who was considered a serious possible pick for Obama before Biden was chosen so I am not sure this argument can work as well for the Dems as one might think.
I have to add that I have never been convinced that Obama could win the Presidency from the outset, and that the tactics his team used to win the primaries was to me very much in the mold of how one fights to win the battle in a manner that loses the war. So I fear that some of the same nastiness used to discredit HRC may be attempted against Palin and if so I suspect it would be more to McCain’s advantage than to Obama’s. I know I could be wrong about this, but it is how I feel about this race, now if Obama was going up against any other candidate other than McCain from the GOP crop this year I wouldn’t expect him to lose easily at all, but McCain’s perception in the US as a maverick and independent atypical GOPer is strong, and the Palin pick has clearly helped underscore this so I see him as a real contender for Obama to defeat even given how this was clearly the election for the Dems to lose when the primaries started given the underlying fundamentals. We shall see, but I am far less confident of an Obama victory than I have seen from many of my fellow travelers both in the Canadian and American blogospheres.
Alaska
Population Ranked 47th in the US
– Total 683,478 (2007 est.)
So, she’s been a mayor of a city of approx 8,000, the governor for a state with a very small population….hmmm.
In Canada, this would be considered a town, not a city. I believe we have to have a population of over 60,000 to be considered a city.
My those Republicans sure now how to play the game. I can’t say anything about McCain’s strategy better than Scotian pointed out. Good to remember that Biden is gaffe prone and could say something about Palin to get himself in to trouble. That being said (as someone elsewhere pointed out), what sounds like the safe ticket now?
-Obama/Biden
or
-McCain/Palin
I see that someone else smarter than me is thinking the same thing (about Biden). Thought you might be interested.
I’m convinced Republicans and Democrats now represent to different species of primate. Can they even still interbreed?
Of additional interest: Pseudo-Canadian royal half-wit Mark Steyn describes Palin thusly:
First, Governor Palin is not merely, as Jay describes her, “all-American”, but hyper-American. What other country in the developed world produces beauty queens who hunt caribou and serve up a terrific moose stew? As an immigrant, I’m not saying I came to the United States purely to meet chicks like that, but it was certainly high on my list of priorities.
Well, at least he’s describing himself as an immigrant to the US. I think we can conclude that he’s washed his hands of Soviet Canuckistan…where apparently, only ugly women hunt caribou and cook moose stew.
What a rich imagination the ponce has.
BC — That’s funny and there may be some veracity to it as things play out, but I suspect it’s reading way too much into the supposed “brilliance” of McCain’s pick, at least in this particular respect. For such a theory to actually make sense, all sorts of faithful leaps of the imagination are required. Still, as I said, it’s funny to think such kind of devious cunning might have been tossed into the grinder as they mulled over their choice of a running mate for the old man.
Scotian:
Welcome back! And I hope you are well.
True Red Tory, reading way too much into political maneuverings is definitily an unhealthy aspect of my life!
I think this bizarre pick by McCain will eventually decide come Nov, whether John McCain is either Maverick or Maniac. I would never underestimate the electral fortunes of the Republicans though.
I don’t see how anyone can take McCain seriously after this, but then there’s no accounting for the stupidity of his supporters. They’d vote for a rock or a bag of sawdust if it was stamped “G.O.P.”