Summer CE Week #6: “The Palin Pick: Bold or Disastrous?”
John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate will either turn out to be a brilliant way for the Republican to scramble the race in his favor — or a disastrous pick that is cast as a desperate act.
On the face of it, McCain has failed the ultimate test that any presidential candidate must face in picking a running mate: selecting someone who is unambiguously qualified to be president.
Palin is a talented politician who has both support among conservatives and a compelling personal story. But her short resume in Alaska politics and her nonexistent national track record will make it impossible for McCain to argue with a straight face that she was the most qualified person he could have selected.
In the short term, the pick will create excitement among the kind of grass-roots conservatives who have never been enthusiastic about McCain, and in the media, which will be fascinated by Palin’s good looks (matched by those of her dishy husband), intelligence and charm.
But Palin is now going to have to perform at a very high level to persuade the media and the public that she is truly ready to be a heartbeat away — and a 72-year-old’s heart at that — from the presidency. How she handles questions about federal issues, national security and foreign affairs will be closely scrutinized, and her margin of error is next to zero.
Early mistakes, like the ones made by Dan Quayle in 1988, could be devastating — not just to her, but also to McCain’s chances. Those who point out that George H.W. Bush was able to win despite Dan Quayle’s presence on the ticket forget that the country was much more solidly Republican at the presidential level back then than in today’s 50-50 America.
In addition, Palin has already had at least one ethical flap as governor, and her personal, political and financial background will be intensely picked over by the Democrats and the national media.
Barack Obama’s pick for his running mate, Joe Biden of Delaware, has already seen the kind of scrutiny a running mate gets, with stories about the financial dealings of his son and brother. The difference is that Biden has had decades in the national spotlight, which means that voters have more context in which to evaluate these stories and that Biden has much more experience in dealing with this kind of controversy. Palin will not only have to get up to speed on a range of issues, but handle the inevitable flaps that will come her way.
Perhaps all of these potential problems will be avoided because Palin, like Barack Obama, will turn out to be a young, once-in-a-generation political figure who can handle American politics at the highest level without the usual experience. That’s what John McCain is counting on. He has always been something of a political gambler. Some of his closest advisers have looked at polling data for many months and reached the conclusion that the national environment is so grim for the Republican Party that McCain can only win the election with a series of bold moves. Palin is clearly intended to help with voters who want change, voters who think America is on the wrong track, and voters who have soured on President Bush.
But if McCain is wrong about how big a plus Palin will be, he might have just undone the gains of the last last month, in which his campaign succeeded somewhat in defining Obama on Republican terms and closed the gap with the Democratic nominee in key state polls. He has taken a chance on Sarah Palin to shake up the race — but at a time when many Republicans do not see why the race needs to be shaken up.
I have to agree with the author when they say that picking Palin was a very daring move on McCain’s part. I for one have never heard of Palin as I’m sure most haven’t because like Obama she is fairly new to the whole political world. In the end this can go both ways really. As the author said Palin might just hold up like Obama did or this might’ve been a very disastrous move that could cost McCain the election. Having a female on the ballot as vp may very well get a lot of the Hillary’s supporters on board to vote for McCain because there will be a woman in a pretty high position if McCain wins. But it also might have some negative affects. Some of McCain’s more traditional conservative male voters might not want to change traditions and they won’t want a woman in a high position even if that means voting democrat. Personally I’m really excited to see who’s going to win this election. Now that both vp cards have been laid on the table its game time. There really is no sure fire guess as to who is going to win. I personally hope that picking Palin doesn’t backfire for McCain.
Does anyone else think that this pick was just for show? I have a hard time believing that John McCain honestly thinks that Palin was the best choice in his situation. It seems like it is just a desperation act to see in McCain can snag the votes the Democrats drop in the election by not having Hilary.
But the author also says that Palin can have an Obama like effect on the Republican side. She is young and smart, and she is pretty good at speaking publicly. But also like Obama, she is inexperienced and she has not really made a big slash on the political scene. I would like to see how she does deal with being McCain’s choice as his running mate; can she deal with the scrutiny? Can she hold her own in the public spotlight? And most importantly, will she make or break the election for John McCain?
This presidential race will surely be one of the most important races historically, we will have either the first African American President or the first female Vice-President. And sadly, I think that is exactly how people will vote. Will the average person analyze the candidate’s policies, or just make a decision based on what part of history they want to be made?
All in all, this is a risky pick, will it turn out to be like an “Agent Zero” buzzer beater, or a Chris Webber brain blunder?
I am a Democrat, so my views may be a little biased, but I don’t think this was the best move for McCain to make. While it was very smart of McCain to pick a young (compared to McCain) woman as a running mate, in Palin’s short political career, she already has a fairly major error. She is being investigated for unethical practices involving the firing of a commissioner because he won’t fire her sister’s ex-husband. Also, the other scandals in Alaska could also hurt her reputation, as hailing from a state riddled with corruption scandals. The upside McCain is hoping for is that Palin will generate the kind of excitement that Barack Obama does, and pull voters away from Obama to himself, especially among undecided women. However, I must point out that it is rather hypocritical that McCain criticizes Obama for his lack of experience, and then picks someone with less experience as his running mate. A month before, she said in an interview that she didn’t know what the Vice President did. McCain is clearly hoping for Palin’s youth and charm to help carry him in a similar manner to what Obama is doing. However, Obama has the edge of being in the spotlight longer and having given several dynamic speeches that have given him national prominence and prestige. It remains to see if Palin can compete with the already known, and liked, Obama.
In response to those it concerns:
I highly disagree with those who say that Palin was a risky choice for Vice President. She has what Mrs. Clinton lacked and may even draw the Hilary voters to herself. Yes, the votes would be electing McCain but really they are voting for her. The media will also have to look hard for her faults since she is new and hasn’t racked up as many faults as someone such as Biden who has been playing the game for years. Another advantage for her is that she comes from Alaska, so those who want to drill oil might vote for her. She is also a woman so many also may vote for her because she is a woman. This was the best thing McCain has done and now I think he has the advantage.
In response to Jonathon:
Jonathon your absolutely right in a lot of ways. Now McCain can no longer pull the “you have no experience card” on Obama. That may have been one of his greatest weapons against him. Really she has far less experience than Obama who has 8 years of experience on the state level, and 2 on the national level while Palin only has 2 on the state level. To me it’s just a desperate move, McCain is already scared. It may help him in the poles for a couple weeks, and it may attract some women, but at the same time no democratic woman, or many independents for that matter will vote for McCain. McCain does not have the best record with women, after all he did have an affair on his first wife, while she was very ill I might add. It will come back to hurt McCain and it may cost him the election. Obama 08’
To me, this was a very surprising move by McCain. Picking Sara Palin for his Vice Presidential candidate was a very risky move. This decision could either work out great for him, or it could destroy his campaign and put him even further out of the race.
One of McCain’s biggest reasons for picking Palin was the fact that she is a woman. It seems as though this was his attempt to pick up all of Clinton’s votes. I, however, do not think many women voted for Clinton just because she is a woman. Sure, some of her ideas probably leaned more towards the women’s side of things, but most of her ideas were similar to any male candidate’s. For the women who do vote based on gender, that is the wrong reason to vote. Unfortunately, there are those who do, and all we can do is hope they don’t decide our election.
Palin’s toughest obstacle will be the media. As stated in the article, the press is unfamiliar with her, so she will be attacked non-stop. Considering the fact that the odds are against her to succeed, the McCain campaign will probably try to back her up whenever possible and keep her semi-sheltered from the media.
In Response to Cyle Christianson:
I agree with everything you brought up. I also think that McCain was just picking Palin to help him get the votes from Hillary supporters. But from what I’ve heard, she fits in with his campaign in some ways. Like you said, “She is young and smart, and she is pretty good at speaking publicly,” and I think this can really help McCain. The only thing I think that could hurt him at this point is if she doesn’t stand up to the scrutiny or if she fails to do as well as he though she would. The author made a good point when he said that this was a daring move for McCain.
I also agree with you when you said, “This presidential race will surely be one of the most important races historically” but I would also like to point out that we now could get a women President if McCain dies in office which is a very real possibility. This race is going to be one for the history books not only because of all the firsts but also because it is going to be close.
McCain has made a very bold move: he has picked a novice political figure to be his running mate. Sarah Palin is like the new kid at a very big school, not many people know who she is. Palin is probably one of the most inexperienced running mate that McCain could have chosen, Palin hasn’t even been in politics long enough to have a national track. “But her short resume in Alaska politics and her nonexistent national track record will make it impossible for McCain to argue with a straight face that she was the most qualified person he could have selected.” McCain not honestly make this announcement having no other second thoughts about any other more qualified potential running mate. There is one similarity between the candidates for presidency: the young picks an older running mate; the old picks a younger mate. They both go opposite their own age. McCain is taking a gamble, with hoping of trying to gain those votes of the people who want change, those votes who are opposed to Bush and the direction America is heading.
” Some of his closest advisers have looked at polling data for many months and reached the conclusion that the national environment is so grim for the Republican Party that McCain can only win the election with a series of bold moves. Palin is clearly intended to help with voters who want change, voters who think America is on the wrong track, and voters who have soured on President Bush.” McCain has started with his bold moves, lets see if it helps or hurts him come election time.
I think this shows that McCain has a sassy side. And I think America wants a President with a sassy side. He seemed to probably most people just as a simple old man who says it like it is, who also is very predictable. This was a nice change for him. I think it was brilliant. As any good team, they compliment each other. Being so opposite you are providing a balance. Young, old. Male, female. Foreing policy guru, no foreign policy experience. I think people are getting tired that all Obama is is just one giant Sassy side. It was good to show from McCain that he can be both predictable and steady-going, but still shake it up and go out of his comfort-zone.
I find McCain’s choice to be rather surprising. He talks about how Obama has practically no experience, but then he goes and picks a running mate with even less. What is he going to say about that? He can’t really go around anymore and say that Obama doesn’t have enough experience, because that would make him a hypocrite, and the American public tends to not like hypocrites. It seems more to me that McCain is doing this not because he thinks that she is the best for the job, but because she is relatively young, and she is a woman. McCain wants to bring the Hilary supporters onto his side and in his mind the best way to achieve that is by choosing a woman running mate. I think that it is stupid that a person would now vote for McCain, just because his running mate is a woman. If you didn’t agree with his actions, or plans, or whatever, that doesn’t mean that all of that is going to change now that Palin is on the ticket. I have heard someone saying that they were a life-long democrat, but now that Palin is on the ticket, they are going to vote for McCain, because Palin is a woman. That is completely ridiculous. You vote for someone because you think that they will be best for the country. This little ploy might win McCain votes in the beginning, but I believe that the country will see that Palin is way under-qualified for the job, and that McCain will end up losing.
In response to Claire Loomer:
Sure, McCain wants the Hillary voters on his side. But being a hypocrite because he picked Palin? No, McCain is not a hypocrite because he HIMSELF has experience. If he had no experience, that would be different. Simply because he picked a running mate that has equal or close to the experience level of Obama does not mean she is a bad choice. She appeals to those issues that turn some undecided voters off of McCain. She will appeal to the women and conservatives, votes that McCain has needed his whole campaign.
After all, what is more important: the experience of the President or Vice President?
First of all it was nice of the author to basically call Barack “a young, once-in-a-generation political figure who can handle American politics at the highest level without the usual experience.” I have heard on the media and in recent articles that McCains decision to pick Sarah Palin was very daring and that Obamas decision to pick Joe Biden was a pretty good move because of his experience in the past. Maybe things will work out between both of the candidates because McCain is very experienced and Palin is not; Biden is experienced and Obama is not. Palin is in the same situation that Obama was in. She will now just have to prove to the press, to the people, and especially to John McCain that she can stand beside him and prove that he did make a good decision in picking her. The decisions from Barack and Obama have both been very bold and hopefully they won’t regret their decisions.
I agree with Brennan about McCain’s reason to pick Sarah Palin. John McCain may have picked Sarah Palin because of her gender. He may have been going for the votes from Hillary Clinton. I also agree that Palin will basically be followed around by cameras that are watching her every move, just waiting for her to make a mistake. McCain probably knew that he was going to get picked apart for his decision so he must have felt that he had good reason in picking Palin. It does seem like McCain is getting more media coverage for picking Palin and that may be another reason for him to pick her.
The problem with picking Sarah Palin as his vice president is that all his criticizes of his opponents now seem hypocritical. She is a young woman will little experience. The biggest flaw of Obama is his lack of experience and he has now picked a woman with just as little. He also has his age hanging over his head. Her lack of experience could prove to be even more fatal to his campaign because the voters are worried about his health and are unsure of whether she would be able to successfully run the nation. Although I personally find no problem with McCain’s age and I rather find it more comforting that a man with experience and devotion to his country is still giving his life and his all to the nation that has given him his rights.
On the other hand, Palin could also prove to be the winning factor to McCain’s campaign. She is a woman and could ultimately win over the Hillary supporters. She also is young which gives the country confidence in the variety and diversity of their government. She ultimately was a wise choice for my vote but it is up to the rest of the country to decide.