So John McCain picks Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his Vice-Presidential nominee. I know nothing about her, so will suspend judgment. But she is a woman, which is fantastic. The U.S. will either have an African-American President or a female Vice-President, which is the kind of history that should have been made long ago; so kudos to McCain for his courage in making that choice.
Beyond that, there are just a few tidbits that seem to be trotted out in all the stories about Palin. She is very firmly pro-life. Unless you are a polar bear. She is in favor of domestic partnerships, although against gay marriage (which puts her in the official Democratic position). She’s been embroiled in some sort of scandal, although it’s always hard to tell at first glance how serious those things should be taken. Perhaps her signature issue, as far as national politics is concerned, is drilling for oil all over the place — she’s in favor.
One might wonder whether McCain undermines his message of the importance of experience by picking a 44-year old governor with no national experience at all. But one might wonder whether Obama undermined his message of bringing change to Washington by choosing a white male Washington lifer from the Northeast; so clearly the McCain camp thought this was worth the risk. We might learn terrible or wonderful things about her in the next few months, but for the moment this seems superficially like a more palatable pick than any of the bigger Republican names that had been floating around — clearly it was in McCain’s eyes. (Brad DeLong wonders whether a similar line of reasoning didn’t leave us with Dan Quayle twenty years ago.)
Update: I originally included a link to this YouTube video of Palin making Craig Ferguson an honorary citizen of Alaska, which I think speaks to her sense of humor. But it also involves Ferguson making jokes about her giving off a sexy librarian vibe, which is fine in the context of a late-night comedy show, but isn’t a fair first impression for a female candidate for a major national office. All sorts of jokes will doubtless be on their way, we might as well make some meager effort to start things off with more substantive considerations.
Update again: Because I don’t know anything about Palin, I’ve tried to be open-minded about the pick. But 24 hours later, the obvious first conclusion to which one is tempted to jump appears increasingly correct: this is a person who has no business being anywhere near a national ticket. Sufficient evidence for this conclusion comes from the words of her supporters, along the lines of: Sure, she’s woefully underqualified, but in all probability John McCain will live for at least another four years! And if he doesn’t, we’re sure she will have the good sense to resign.
I wonder how many times she has visited Iraq to get the facts on the ground?
And I think she pretty much cancels the GOP’s ‘rock star’ complaint against Obama. If ever there were a more vapid national candidate, it hasn’t been in my loooonnnng lifetime. She makes Dan Quayle look scholarly.
And before anyone gets huffy, I’d say that if the name were SAM Palin. Gender-neutral here. But then, a ‘Sam Palin’ wouldn’t deliver the same venom, would he?
Palin more experienced? Uh-huh. Let’s do a little comparison. Here’s a quick wikipedia exerpt. Take issue with it if you can.
Palin: After being selected as the runner up in the 1984 Miss Alaska contest, Palin served two terms on the Wasilla, Alaska City Council from 1992 to 1996, was elected mayor of Wasilla in 1996, and ran unsuccessfully for Lieutenant Governor in 2002.
After charging ethical violations by state Republican Party leaders, she won election in 2006 by first defeating the incumbent governor in the Republican primary, then a former Democratic Alaskan governor in the general election.
Obama: A graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he served as president of the Harvard Law Review, Obama worked as a community organizer and practiced as a civil rights attorney before serving in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. He taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. Following an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000, he announced his campaign for the U.S. Senate in January 2003. After a primary victory in March 2004, Obama delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004. He was elected to the Senate in November 2004 with 70% of the vote.
As a member of the Democratic minority in the 109th Congress, he helped create legislation to control conventional weapons and to promote greater public accountability in the use of federal funds. He also made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. During the 110th Congress, he helped create legislation regarding lobbying and electoral fraud, climate change, nuclear terrorism, and care for returned U.S. military personnel. After announcing his presidential campaign in February 2007, Obama emphasized withdrawing American troops from Iraq, energy independence, decreasing the influence of lobbyists, and promoting universal health care as top national priorities.
Obama has more experience and far higher quality experience. Palin was governor of a homogenous, untaxed state funded by federal handouts and the oil industry (prior to which she was unemployed for 3 years), and managed as mayor of a tiny town of 5500 managed to rack up an almost $20 million debt. After which the town hired an administrator to do the, you know, actual executive managing stuff.
Oppose the bridge to nowhere? She was all for it until the national criticism flared and the feds pulled funding. Creationist, anti-choice radical (yes, also in cases of rape and incest, only excepting where the mother’s life is in jeopardy), who threatened to fire the town librarian for not being willing to censor books. Abstinence only, no sex education in schools (look how well that worked out).
But by all means defend this in the name of identity politics. You certainly have become the laughing stock of the educated world.
Deanna,
This relies upon the specious charge that feminists are failing to show Palin due respect.
I just have one Question. Is Obama going to have enough time to care for his children when he is President? I hope so.
Read this and weep
As an Alaskan, I am writing to give all of you some information on
Sarah Palin, Senator McCain’s choice for VP. As an Alaska voter, I
know more than most of you about her and, frankly, I am horrified that
he picked her.
The most accurate description of her is red neck. Her husband works in
the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay and races snow mobiles. She is a life
time member of the NRA and has worked tirelessly to allow
indiscriminate hunting of wildlife in Alaska, particularly wolves and
bears. She has spent millions of Alaska state dollars on aerial
hunting of these predators from helicopters and airplanes, dollars
that should have been spent, for example, on Alaska’s failing school
system.We have the lowest rate of high school graduation in the
country. Not all of you may think aerial predator hunting is so bad,
but how anyone (other than Alaska wolf-haters, of which there are
many, most without teeth), could think this use of funds is
appropriate is beyond me. If you want to know more about the aerial
hunting travesty, let me know and I will send some links to
informative web sites.
She has been a strong supporter of increased use of fossil fuels, yet
the McCain campaign has the nerve to say she has “green” policies. The
only thing green about Sarah Palin is her lack of experience. She has
consistently supported drilling in ANWR, use of coal-burning power
plants (as I write this, a new coal plant is being built in her home
town of Wasilla), strip mining, and almost anything else that will
unnecessarily exploit the diminishing resources of Alaska and destroy
its environment.
Prior to her one year as governor of Alaska, she was mayor of Wasilla,
a small red neck town outside Anchorage.The average maximum education
level of parents of junior high school kids in Wasilla is 10th grade.
Unfortunately, I have to go to Wasilla every week to get groceries and
other supplies, so I have continual contact with the people who put
Palin in office in the first place. I know what I’m talking about.
These people don’t have a concept of the world around them or of the
serious issues facing the US. Furthermore, they don’t care. So long as
they can go out and hunt their moose every fall, kill wolves and bears
and drive their snow mobiles and ATVs through every corner of the
wilderness, they’re happy. I wish I were exaggerating.
Sarah Palin is currently involved in a political corruption scandal.
She fired an individual in law enforcement here because she didn’t
like how he treated one of her relatives during a divorce. The man’s
performance and ability weren’t considered; it was a totally personal
firing and is currently under investigation. While the issue isn’t
close to the scandal of Ted Steven’s corruption, it shows that Palin
isn’t “squeaky clean” and causes me to think there ay be more issues
that could come to light. Clearly McCain doesn’t care.
When you line Palin up with Biden, the comparison would be laughable
if it weren’t so serious. Sarah Palin knows nothing of economics
(admittedly a weak area for McCain), or of international affairs,
knows nothing of national government, Social Security, unemployment,
health care systems – you name it. The idea of her meeting with heads
of foreign governments around the world truly frightens me.
In an increasingly dangerous world, with the economy in shambles in
the US, Sarah Palin is uniquely UNqualified to be vice president. John
McCain is not a young man. Should something happen to him such that
the vice president had to step in, it would destroy our country and
possibly the world to have someone as inexperienced and inappropriate
as Sarah Palin. The choice of Palin is a cheap shot by McCain to try
to get Hillary supporters to vote for him. when McCain introduced her
today, Palin had the nerve to compare herself with Hillary and
Geraldine Ferraro. Sarah Palin, you are no Hillary Clinton.
To those of you who, like me, supported Hilary and were upset that she
did not get the nomination, please don’t think that Sarah Palin is a
worthy substitute. If you supported Hillary, regardless of what you
think the media and the democratic party may have done to undermine
her campaign, the person to support now is Obama, not Sarah Palin. To
those of you who are independent or undecided, don’t let the choice of
Palin sway you in favor of McCain. Choosing her shows how unqualified
McCain is to be president. To those of you who are conservative, I
guess you have no choice for president. But please try to see how the
poor choice of Palin tells us a great deal about McCain’s judgment.
While the political posturing inherent in the choice of Palin is
obvious, the more serious issue is the fact that the VP is, literally,
a heartbeat away from the presidency. Sarah Palin is totally and
unequivocally unqualified to be vice president, let alone president.
I know this is a lengthy and emotional email, but the stakes are high.
I thought it might help for all of you, regardless of political
affiliation, to know something about Palin from someone who has to
live with her administration in Alaska on a daily basis.
Reply
Reply to all
Forward
Any way to get this to a wider distribution?
Bush with long hair.
McCain’s choice of Palin as an ultra-right wing, religious extremist, anti-environment, anti-education, anti-science, … VP candidate buries any hope for bipartisan politics should he be elected. Yet another reason to put the money on the Dem ticket.
Daisy rose, put your post up on Washington Monthly, Kos (make up your own diary, it will be popular because you have some closer experience to this woman), Atrios, HuffPo, Salon, etc. I would like to see links about the aerial hunting, since I want to know if she literally pulled triggers from up there or just supported and funded it.
The following opinion piece is similar to what you posted:
http://www.crosscut.com/politics-government/17341
Palin’s church has ties to radical religious groups like Joel’s Army.
For the record, Gov. Palin did not sell ‘her’ jet on eBay. She listed it three times. It failed to sell, so she finally sold it through a broker to a contributor of her campaign for a half-million-dollar loss.
Even I could balance a state budget in a state that’s swimming in money. That’s no challenge. But didn’t she leave little Wasilla drowning in long-term debt?
Daisy, you’ve almost talked me into voting for this woman.
-Dr. Redneck, Ph.D.
One logical conclusion from this discussion: America would be better if fewer academics voted.
I mean … honestly. Obama is wrong on big government, wrong on appeasement; wrong on economics; wrong on social issues; wrong, wrong, wrong on every issue. And he’s a lackey for the Daley Machine.
But here, well, anyone but a Republican.
I’m not going to vote — why encourage them ?
This sums it up better than I ever could
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/09/sarah-palin-is-not-hockey-mom.html
e.
OK, I hate to do this, but daisy rose, are you Lyda Green? First, Gov. Palin wants to push Alaska and the U.S. towards not having to pay terrorist countries billions of dollars for oil to fill our nation’s need. We can drill safely in Alaska and all over the country without hurting the environment and it’s already been proven. Next, the political corruption scandal? Are you serious? Trooper Wooten tasered his stepson, went to a bar in his squad car, got in a fight, then drove home DRUNK IN HIS SQUAD CAR!!! Wooten got 5 days suspension. She had every legal right to fire Monegan for not canning this guy. Do your research. And as for Obama bin Biden, oh wait, I guess they have alot of experience. Obama was a community organizer for crying out loud!!! That’s enough to qualify him for leader of the free world. Get real daisy. Or should I say Lyda? People, don’t be fooled by this heartfelt “story” by or friend who goes by the name daisy rose. She probably lives in Talkeetna, a largely drug inhabited town on the outskirts of the Gov. Palin’s town of Wasilla. I hope you all vote based on facts and values and experience, none of which Obama-bin-Biden or miss daisy rose have.
reason has left the building
Tammy, you don’t know, as the tree-hugging Obama-lovers say SHEEEIT!!! Learn your facts babe.
Vern,
OMG you are totally right – Sarah Palin really does have a *big Picture* idea about *everything*!
Again, please don’t feed the trolls.
Am I in the wrong room? Are you all hippies?
It is far cheaper to import oil from the Mid East. Palin and McCain want to make Iraq a model country free of terrorism. Buying oil from Iraq is far cheaper than drilling in Alaska. So, McCain/Palin are inconsistent here. Surely “Winning in Iraq” does not mean allowing it to become a “terrorist country”?
Also, the US uses 20% of the world’s oil production while the US only has 3% of the world’s oil reserves. So, being self sufficient for your oil isn’t feasible.
I want to add to Count Iblis’ point, that even if drilling is safe (a claim no more warranting glib acceptance without good proof than the claim it still wouldn’t be, and don’t forget the vulnerability to hurricanes!), growing demand for energy means we must work hard to find alternatives and not just drill. Please read the new book Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas Friedman about what we must do to achieve success in the future. On NPR today, Tom equated “Drill, baby, drill” with being at the threshold of the computer age, and chanting for IBM Selectric typewriters, as in “Type, baby, type.”
Also, Andrew Sullivan (e.g. http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/09/god-is-gonna-st.html#more) and Pharyngula (e.g. http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/09/palinanity.php) have been posting about Sarah Palin’s rather fundamentalist/armageddonist etc. church, pastor, and religious views. “Petard, prepare to be hoisted” says Sullivan (in a reference to the Rev. Wright controversy), but I wonder if the so-called liberal but actually quite Republican-friendly media (from the interests of their powerful corporate owners) outlets will say much about it. And even the WSJ (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122065537792905483.html) has doubts about her leadership, looking at actions as Mayor of Wasilla. (This is all relevant stuff, not sleazy rumors about affairs, the children, etc.)
Finally, her remark that “I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities” is a put-down not just of community organizers, but of anyone who has a job at all. Why? Because she’s saying; if you have a job to do, tasks to accomplish (and organizers do) but aren’t a government official (I guess), you don’t really have “responsibilities.” How ironic!
BTW, Google search (I wonder if McCain has learned to do that yet? Those running the Republican Convention may not have, considering their putting up Walter Reed School in CA instead of Walter Reed Hospital as intended) shows that I was first to come up with the moniker “McBushlin” for the McCain-Palin ticket. I hope it catches on.
(Iblis – can we expect a post soon at your blog?)
Neil:
I planned to write about a new idea half a year ago, but I was too busy. I’ll write it up tonight…
This is a cute and right-on cartoon about S.P.:
http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/contributors/1737
Pingback: A Time-Saving Rant | Cosmic Variance