Posted by
Steve on Friday, August 29, 2008 3:11:28 PM
John McCain trashed conventional wisdom yet again. He selected Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin, as his Vice-Presidential pick. The conventional wisdom had McCain selecting Romney or Pawlenty depending on whether Michigan or Minnesota was deemed more important. By selecting Sarah Palin, John McCain did not go for a single state; he went for the whole enchilada.
On the way to work, I got to hear part of Sarah Palin’s speech in Ohio. She outlined her growth in politics from a Hockey Mom to Governor. In almost every stop along the way, she encountered corruption and people that were afraid to do things. She has tried to clean up every political nest when she came upon the scene.
In her speech, she made the comment that any ship in harbor is safe. But to accomplish anything, the ship has to risk the sea. Politics is much like that. Many politicians are afraid to take risks because they are afraid of offending someone. Sarah Palin has not been afraid of offending people; she has rolled up her sleeves and turned out the dead wood.
She is married to a man who is a Native American. She has a child who has Downs Syndrome. She is a Life member of the NRA. She loves the outdoors and is comfortable hunting and fishing. She loves moose burgers. There are pictures of her hunting and fishing. She is a former runner up to the Miss Alaska beauty contest. That cannot hurt her with the male voting public. But, she is tough as nails when it comes to corruption. Joe Biden will have his hands full when he has to debate her in the Vice-Presidential debate during the campaign. She is articulate and full of spirit. Biden may have lots of words, but Sarah Palin knows how to use them effectively.
What will the pick do to both campaigns? The McCain campaign will receive a big boost in energy from the selection. Sarah Palin is a solid conservative and is pro-life. She also will energize women to vote for a Republican. That is something that Republicans have a difficult time doing. Republicans usually win the male vote and lose the female vote. The selection makes this election historic. No matter which party wins the election, there will be a “first”. There will be either the first black President in history or the first woman Vice-President in history. That is enough reason to make the election exciting.
What this election does to the Democrats is cause them some real problems. They were having some problems attracting votes of women in the first place because of Barack defeating Mrs. Clinton. Then, Obama did not even consider Mrs. Clinton as a Vice-Presidential pick. Mrs. Clinton made Barack Obama look bad with her good speech at the convention. She did not sound like the harpy that she usually does when making a speech. Then, John McCain selected a woman as a Vice-Presidential pick. Women who were upset with Obama over his non-selection of Mrs. Clinton may just throw him under the bus and support a woman as Vice-President. Blacks support Barack Obama for President even if they know that he will destroy the country. Women could very well do much the same thing in supporting a woman for Vice-President. This did not happen when Mondale selected Ferraro because Mondale really had no chance to get elected. In this election, either Barack Obama will be elected President or Sarah Palin will be elected Vice-President. Right now the polls have the two neck and neck. Of course, this is prior to the selection of Sarah Palin. This selection should give John McCain/Sarah Palin a big boost in the polls.
Sarah Palin did do one thing I am not sure that I would have done. She did give tribute to the two women in politics that went before her, Geraldine Ferraro and Mrs. Clinton. That was a class thing to do. My distrust of anything Clinton would probably have prevented me from doing such a thing, but I am proud of Sarah Palin for acknowledging the work of those that have made it possible to think of women in the highest offices in the land. The more I hear from and of Sarah Palin, the more I am sure that John McCain got this one right. Barack Obama flubbed his chance to get it right and selected a safe choice. McCain went out on a limb and picked a risky pick that could bring big rewards or a disaster. I think he got more than he bargained for.