Two things have been said about picking a vice presidential candidate, both of which I think are hogwash. One is that the presidential candidate’s first decision tells you quite a lot about their judgment. No, it doesn’t and shouldn’t. It often falls into who the best person is to provide a foil for the better half of the ticket and give some sort of counterbalance by ideology, experience or another variable the consultants deem important. The second is that the wrong pick will doom a candidacy. To that I present you J. Danforth Quayle. If he couldn’t stop the elder Bush from becoming president, no VP candidate can.
When I look at Joe Biden, all I can think of is what a capable Senator he is and the plagiarism charges that squashed his first presidential run in 1988. What made this even wilder is that he then served on the Senate Ethics Committee with Ted Kennedy when he questioned Oliver North. Since then Biden appears to have settled into a solid, if unspectacular, senator whose charisma is so bland it got him nowhere in his presidential run this year. When Hillary Clinton’s supporters talked about how important experience was in their decision, why weren’t they voting for Biden? He had more experience than any other presidential candidate this year. He is a safe and solid, if unspectacular, choice.
Today John McCain made a much riskier choice with the completely unknown Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska. The photo above is the downtown area of Wasilla, the town Palin ran as mayor just two years ago. This Alaskan blog has some good stories about Wasilla and Alaskan politics, which don’t appear to be too different from anywhere else. Wasilla has about 6,000 people and appears to be in the heart of Alaska’s Bible Belt (I never even thought about such a place existing). And apparently her husband is the current champion of Alaska’s Iron Dog snowmobiling competition. Now that’s cool.
I always admire gutsy moves like this from candidates, which tend to wildly succeed or spectacularly fail. It’s a bit early to tell at this stage since I know as much about this woman as you do. But my gut feeling is it seems a bit odd. Was this a lame attempt to attract disgruntled Hillary supporters? Wait until they hear Palin’s views on abortion and creationism. Her support for ANWR drilling may also be problematic to women, but not Reagan Democrats and I don’t think you’ll find any politician from Alaska who doesn’t want to drill up there.
McCain did need to do something unique and he’s certainly done it. What will be truly interesting is how the former Wasilla, Alaska mayor will act debating a pro like Biden or when she’s questioned about the wedge issues like Iraq and stem cell research that most people in the lower 48 have very clear ideas on. And the GOP certainly can’t use the inexperience argument any more.
When I look at Joe Biden, all I can think of is what a capable Senator he is and the plagiarism charges that squashed his first presidential run in 1988. What made this even wilder is that he then served on the Senate Ethics Committee with Ted Kennedy when he questioned Oliver North. Since then Biden appears to have settled into a solid, if unspectacular, senator whose charisma is so bland it got him nowhere in his presidential run this year. When Hillary Clinton’s supporters talked about how important experience was in their decision, why weren’t they voting for Biden? He had more experience than any other presidential candidate this year. He is a safe and solid, if unspectacular, choice.
Today John McCain made a much riskier choice with the completely unknown Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska. The photo above is the downtown area of Wasilla, the town Palin ran as mayor just two years ago. This Alaskan blog has some good stories about Wasilla and Alaskan politics, which don’t appear to be too different from anywhere else. Wasilla has about 6,000 people and appears to be in the heart of Alaska’s Bible Belt (I never even thought about such a place existing). And apparently her husband is the current champion of Alaska’s Iron Dog snowmobiling competition. Now that’s cool.
I always admire gutsy moves like this from candidates, which tend to wildly succeed or spectacularly fail. It’s a bit early to tell at this stage since I know as much about this woman as you do. But my gut feeling is it seems a bit odd. Was this a lame attempt to attract disgruntled Hillary supporters? Wait until they hear Palin’s views on abortion and creationism. Her support for ANWR drilling may also be problematic to women, but not Reagan Democrats and I don’t think you’ll find any politician from Alaska who doesn’t want to drill up there.
McCain did need to do something unique and he’s certainly done it. What will be truly interesting is how the former Wasilla, Alaska mayor will act debating a pro like Biden or when she’s questioned about the wedge issues like Iraq and stem cell research that most people in the lower 48 have very clear ideas on. And the GOP certainly can’t use the inexperience argument any more.
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