The Osterley Times: Would you back a gun-toting former beauty queen for vice-president?

As a progressive, I am always pleased with something which unites us, and nothing unites people across the planet more than John McCain's choice for Vice President. And from coast to coast in the US people must have greeted the news the same way as it has been greeted across the rest of the planet: "Sarah who?"

John McCain took the biggest gamble of his campaign so far when he yesterday chose as his running mate Sarah Palin, the relatively unknown and inexperienced governor of Alaska, in the hope of reaching out to women voters.

Introduced by McCain at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, Palin made a direct appeal to supporters of Hillary Clinton still upset over her defeat by Barack Obama, praising Clinton for her "determination and grace" in the nomination battle.

Palin's place on the ticket means the November 4 election will produce either the first African-American president or the first female vice-president.

I can understand the logic of reaching out to disaffected Hillary supporters, but anyone who has listened to PUMA supporters and the like over the past few months can hardly have thought that this was a group of people who needed to be wooed. Those insane buggers are in the tank for McCain already.

So it's really hard to see what he thinks he gains by making this choice, especially as one of his arguments against Obama is that he is inexperienced.

Obama has, at least, been tested against the might of the Clinton electoral machine and been forced to show that he could out-organise and out-campaign one of America's shrewdest political families.

Palin has done none of that. And yet she is being proposed as Vice President to, should he be elected, the oldest man ever to become a first term President and a man who has already suffered from four bouts of cancer. The chances of this unheard of woman being made the most powerful person in the world is certainly much more likely than Joe Biden being asked to replace Barack Obama.

And she's on record as saying that she doesn't even know what the VP does:

It is a simply extraordinary choice. I am utterly puzzled at what this unheard of woman is supposed to bring to McCain's ticket.

Indeed, this person has almost no experience of any kind on a national or international level, and there isn't a sentient person on the planet who could argue that she is ready to become commander in chief. And when she's VP to a man as old as McCain then this really becomes a pertinent issue.

It's one of the most reckless decisions I have ever heard of. An truly insane choice for VP. His campaign deserves to sink like a stone. How can a man - that old - choose a VP with so very little experience?

Palin rose to attention in Alaska in 2003 while serving on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, blowing the whistle on violations of state ethical regulations by Republican party leaders.

However, she is under investigation herself over allegations that she dismissed state public safety commissioner Walter Monegan because he would not sack a state trooper involved in an acrimonious divorce with her younger sister. Palin has told US television networks she has "nothing to hide".

Palin eats moose burgers, goes ice fishing, rides snowmobiles, runs marathons, manages a hockey team and owns a seaplane, according to US reports. She is also a Christian.

It's a staggeringly bad choice on so many levels. He'd have been better off with Lieberman for God's sake. When the insane Michelle Malkin says, "I’m impressed. Very impressed" and we know that Bill Kristol has been pushing for her to be on the ticket, that's enough to tell me that she is an extremist. An unqualified and untested extremist at that. Once again we see McCain attempting to please the nutter division of the Conservative base.

“McCain listened to us!” say the Evangelicals. And it’s true. He did.

This is the most reckless choice he could possibly have made and one that deserves to end his bid to be president on the spot. Her debate with Joe Biden will be interesting. (He'll eat her for breakfast.)

She's female and she's Christian. Those appear to be the two factors which swung it for McCain. As I say, it's a staggeringly bad choice. It's very seldom that I am left speechless but in this case...

UPDATE:

The New Republic cover this choice under the headline: An Astonishingly Arrogant V.P. Selection

They state:

It may be John McCain's birthday, but it seems like he's the one giving out gifts today. The selection of Palin doesn't simply, as others have pointed out, undermine the notion that Obama is too inexperienced to be president; it gives Obama the chance to actually take the edge on national security while making John McCain's age a central issue of the campaign.

Whatever the political calculations involved in picking a veep, the most important qualification for the vice presidency is the ability to assume the presidency in a crisis. Given that of the last 12 presidents, three have either died or resigned, this is hardly a hypothetical consideration--in fact, given that McCain is 72, it is a very real consideration.

By choosing someone this unqualified and inexperienced, McCain has made his age a relevant factor in this election. Up until now it's been the thing that everyone has been ignoring so as not to seem ageist, but McCain has recklessly thrown it to the top of the in tray and almost demanded that this factor be considered. It is not in his favour to have this conversation, but it's one which his own actions have made imperative. If this old man dies is this woman no-one has ever heard of ready to be Commander in Chief?

At a time when Obama has increased his lead over McCain to eight points, I get the distinct feeling that McCain has cut his own throat here.

UPDATE II:

On reflection, isn't the choice of Palin actually an insult to women everywhere? Hillary was ready to be Commander in Chief and had a deep understanding of foreign policy. It's like McCain is saying Palin is equal to Clinton which is a simply ridiculous thing to say.

I know there are the PUMA groups who were always ready to vote for this man who opposed women's right to choose, but surely most intelligent women will see this as the insult that it is?

UPDATE III:

Obama has issued congratulations to this "compelling" new voice on the world stage and has said this, "is yet another encouraging sign that old barriers are falling in our politics."

However, as I suspected, McCain's age has been immediately highlighted:

Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton meanwhile blasted the choice and highlighted Governor Palin's lack of foreign policy credentials.

"Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency," Mr Burton said in a statement.

UPDATE IV:

Kyle Moore at Comments From Left Field writes:

Whether Palin was a good pick or not is not exactly relevant. What is relevant is the nature of John McCain’s decision making in this instance.

Let that simmer with you for a moment. At the first sign of trouble, McCain abandoned his game plan and went instead with a high risk maneuver that thus far seems to have some pay off, but is coming with a high cost.

What does that say about how he’ll behave in the realm of foreign policy? Will he abandon any semblance of a safe and tested plan in favor of a high risk move that will put us and our families in danger? What about terrorism? In a McCain administration, I think that this indicates that instead of pursuing a smart and tough anti-terrorism policy, he would engage in a reckless and reactionary response that would only make us less safe and likely put us in another war.

We can discuss the lack of qualifications for Sarah Palin, and there are plenty, but the biggest problem is that it indicates that John McCain’s temperament and judgment is far below the standards necessary to serve in the Oval Office.

This is what many of US senators and US generals have been saying for months now. It's what Obama hinted at recently when he said, "If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have."

And it's what Thad Cochrane was referring to when he stated:

"The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine," Cochran said about McCain by phone. "He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."

This decision is yet another example of McCain showing his recklessness.

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