Sarah. Palin. And it should be pointed out that Sarah Palin is not related to Monty Python alum Michael Palin. This bears mentioning because McCain's choice could be described as Pythonesque. If not Pythonesque, then a desperate attempt by McCain to inject some vitality and interest into his campaign.
On the surface, Palin seems an intriguing choice. She's young - 44 - younger even than Barack Obama. A governor of a sparsely populated state, mother of five, a person who likes to hunt, she's an ardent social conservative whose views appeal to the far right wing of the Republican Party. Palin's selection was no doubt made in part to mollify the far right in much the same way Dan Quayle did for Bush the Elder in 1988.
The larger issue has to do with Palin's qualifications. Given McCain's age - whether you regard it a legitimate issue or not - the issue of experience for his vice president is a greater concern than if he were 10 years younger. Simply put, Palin is not remotely qualified to be president.
(And this has nothing to do with Monday's news that her teenage daughter is pregnant, though you'd have to wonder about the McCain vice-presidential vetting process if they either didn't know or actually thought such news would remain under wraps).
It's legitimate to call Palin a political neophyte. She's been a governor for less than two years. Sure, she was a mayor for six years. But there are cruise ships with larger populations than Wasilla, Alaska. Consider that McCain's wife Cindy deemed Palin sufficiently strong on foreign policy issues because Alaska is close to Russia. She's an odd choice in the sense that her inexperience undermines McCain's efforts to portray Obama as the candidate without experience.
The headlines showed her hunting, showed her with her family, mentioned that she had a layout in Vogue. Fine. She may be charming, could even be a fundamentally competent person. But is she someone who we'd really want to answer that proverbial call at 3 a.m.?
Answer:
No, not by a long shot.[[In-content Ad]]