Quietly, Sarah Palin is McCain’s running mate
I first read about Sen. Joe Biden’s nomination to be Sen. Barack Obama’s running-mate through the MSM. It was probably on Google News, in the headlines. Then I saw it here on television, albeit briefly, since a VP nominee doesn’t really have much importance to New Zealanders.
I first read about Gov. Sarah Palin’s nomination as Sen. John McCain’s running-mate on Timothy’s Vox blog. I have not heard mentions on radio or TV here. And I realize that this is not big news to Kiwis, and I admittedly was out during the six o’clock TV news broadcast yesterday. But as someone kind of interested in US politics, I would have expected to have run into the news somewhere.
Maybe to us, as we have had female prime ministers twice (at one point, the PM, Chief Justice and Governor-General were all female), the ascension of a woman to the presidential ticket is not a biggie. Also, then-Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro had already trailblazed on that front as the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 1984.
It will be interesting to see if Gov. Palin will help the McCain campaign. She is largely unknown outside her home state but that might help charges that Sen. McCain (like Sen. Biden, I should point out) is the same-old Washington establishment. With Palin’s approval ratings at 80 per cent in her home state, and a pretty solid résumé, she has quite a few pluses in terms of her hard work for Alaska.
She has been clear on her beliefs—she has a lifetime NRA membership, she opposes the legalization of marijuana and she is pro-life—so people can judge her on those quite easily. If the majority of Americans do not see eye-to-eye with Gov. Palin on these matters, then that is democracy in action.
Alaska, though in fact modern with large cities, has a stereotype among Americans, and being the 47th state in terms of population, the Democrats will be able to accuse the Governor of inexperience in national politics. It’s a fine line, however: Palin has had 16 years of elected public service, versus Sen. Obama’s 11; though I note that this never stopped Sen. Clinton, with eight years, from attacking Sen. Obama in the primaries.
Her biggest plus is her whistle-blowing about corruption and the lack of ethics among certain sectors of government in Alaska, meaning Sarah Palin is a no-nonsense, clean-government advocate. How successful this image will carry through into the quagmire of Washington politics is dependent on how Americans view things: can they believe that one person can make a change, or do they believe one person will be buried among establishment thinking?
It depends on how strongly they believe in the power of the individual.
Palin is probably an individualist—someone who doesn’t mind bucking the trend and surprising people, and that could play well to many Americans. To some extent McCain has these values but he has also changed his mind on some, which the Democrats have rightly pointed out at their Convention.
It will be an interesting road ahead.
Comments
Words or actions? She brings actions.
I am firmly convinced that if she had the identical resume, but was male, she would not have been on McCain's top 20 list.
Gaspode, I agree that being a councillor and mayor is in some respects easier than being a senator as Barack Obama has been; what I tried to allude to was that Sarah Palin has had experience learning about the different dynamics of people. I think all politics is the same whether it is on a local or national level, but—and this is an important caveat—the institutionalization is far greater on a national level. The test for Palin is whether she is gutsy enough to deal with that institutionalization in order to get things done, or will she crumble?
I have been trying to think of a young male governor of another state for comparison but my gut says you are probably right on your last statement.
I don't know enough about Palin to make an informed decision but on what I've learned through the media I think she's a weak candidate, certainly weaker than Biden for Obama. McCain I'm not the biggest fan of, but I do have respect for his service and the fact that he took a stand on things like torture; Palin, on the other hand, just sounds to my British ears like a sterotypical Republican.
Oddly enough I found out from MSM - ever since I got my iPhone I've became an NYTimes reader, the app on the phone is great, I get just what I want, when I want it, then just use the BBC, Times and Telegraph online here for anything else.
Gov. Palin’s record does look like a typical Republican’s albeit in the guise of a former beauty queen; if she was male, as Gaspode mentioned, she might not even have much of the media spotlight. However, I guess she appeals to that GOP base—pro-gun, pro-life, traditional families (with her five kids)—which Sen. McCain has not yet fully captured (thanks to flip-flopping on where he stands: he was certainly more liberal on some issues before he realized he had to appeal to the far-right voters).
Last time, I reckon it was the traditional family woman who swung the vote in favour of Dubya: I noticed the polls begin swinging in his favour after Teresa Heinz Kerry made some jab at Laura Bush for not having worked. Republicans were quick to point out that Mrs Bush was a librarian and held down a nine-to-five job for some time, and raised her two daughters. Mrs Kerry offended quite a few people, especially as a Heinz heiress.
Lightning does not strike twice, however, but in some ways John McCain has secured some of that swing-voting group with the Governor.
Her first speech as VP candidate I was not too impressed by, but I cannot judge her on a single speech. Bloggers far more clued up than me have been blogging about Sarah Palin for months and seem to like her, so I know she has broader appeal than the group I identified above.
Phone-surfing is still too expensive for me down here; I tend to wait till I get home!
The Democratic Party is the party of yesterday, of the rust belt, of the 1950's. They are anti-individualist and anti-capitalist. Good in the short term if one is looking for spoils from government. Bad in the long term for America if we are going to compete with China, India and Asian tigers. Most of the social agenda is just noise.
Her support of teaching creation, as science, worries me...
This article shows a little of the unpublished truth about America. The issues are painted to create more controversy than actually exists. The problem for the Dems is that the most radical elements are in charge of the party and the moderates or somewhat conservative Dems must go along for the ride.
Everywhere from the liberal colleges to the liberal media to the liberal politicians the dems have control of the information outlets except talk radio and the mighty blogosphere and they're trying to pass legislation to shut them down. Hate speech laws and the fairness doctrine are two of the prime examples. You hear way too much of the extreme liberal views and way too little of the conservative main stream America. The dems are running a success in the polls based purely on O's charisma and the fact that we want to prove we are past the vast majority of the race problem here. Race is continually a problem now not because of white America but because of the minorities making hay on the race problem. As a white I ache to have a black pres just to put this matter to bed, but not one who has associations with America haters and holds the most extreme liberal agenda in the legislature and Bidden is #3 in that line with the controlling members (Pelosi, Reid, the Majority whip, etc.,) being right up there with them.
Picking Romney or Pawlenty would have just confirmed for most of Hillary's supporters that the Republicans are still the party of Good ol' Boys (false charge) so in order to entice a good block of Hill's 18million supporters McCain camp made a good move. Meanwhile Bill is out there shooting Hillary in the back with his loose cannon antics. her bid for president is over whether she realizes it or not. The Dems can't afford to put her up there if they can count on Bill screwing them up.
In one fell swoop, Team McCain shores up their conservative base, pulls off a good number of Hill's people, and frees up McCain to speak about his maverick streak to win the middle voters. The next couple of months are going to be fun to watch as a Republican as the Dems begin to melt down. Its their own fault for many reasons but the most obvious is Pelosi and Reid freezing all progress in the legislature and the Dems putting up the most extreme candidates to represent their party. With experience credentials or not, the issues are the telling point. The issues and the voting records.
Thanks for the mention.
Zak: the Democrats are more anti-capitalist, true, or at least they are prepared to put more intervention into the system.
Robin: I hope this is an issue that gets debated, as it’s better than going after Gov. Palin’s or Sen. Obama’s “experience”.
Timothy: the rise of Sarah Palin is a good one to chart, and as a beauty pageant judge I can definitely tell entrants that coming second can still be a good thing long-term! I wonder what became of the winner of Miss Alaska the year she contested the pageant.