John McCain’s VP pick,Sarah Palin a grave mistake
If you stack John McCain ’s VP pick Sarah Palin, who is undoubtedly beautiful and young up against Delaware Senator Joe Biden, with his over two decades of experience in the Senate, with missions to countries all over the globe, it’s like putting a Bull in the ring with a Chicken–ludicrous at best. And there goes McCain’s chance to bray on and on about his own experience versus Obama. Kinda pandering to disgrunted Hillary Clinton supporters, huh? Desperate tactics, to say the least.
For McCain to chose Palin is demeaning to Hillary Clinton supporters—as though any token woman would do for an office a heart beat from the presidency of the world’s sole super power. Pathetically bad decision-making ability on the part of McCain, in bold type for the world to see.
All I can truly say is this will be a feast for the Democrats and I am looking forward to the carnage.
With this pick McCain wanted his party enthused and united heading into today’s Republican convention, but the novelty of a good looking woman running mate will soon die down in the following days.
McCain, with this selection is trying to wrest the mantle of “change” from Obama, saying the Democrat talks change while he brings change.
Obama leads among female voters but McCain is trying to lure members of Clinton’s disaffected flock and some of Obama’s young voters,but thats how far it can go.
There are obvious problems with Palin’s selection and these are beginning to surface and dominating discussion. Some of the assumptions McCain has gambled on could collapse like a house of sand-umlilo wamaphepha.
Luring Women
For many women the selection is likely to smack of tokenism. Hillary supporters wanted her for herself and her policies – does McCain think any woman will do? And would any man with Palin’s record have even be considered?
Whereas McCain’s moderate policies on climate change and immigration muted his conservatism in the public eye, strapping Palin to McCain makes the choice for female voters stark.
Palin is so anti-abortion she rejects it even in cases of rape and incest- decrying a woman’s right to choose abortion?-interesting.
She supports the teaching of Creationism in schools is against gay marriage and she is a global warming sceptic.
McCain ‘s experience argument collapses
Palin was until two years ago a mayor of a town of 7000 people. References on news sites after her selection to George Bush snr’s pick of Dan Quayle in some ways miss the mark – Quayle at least had four years in Congress and eight years in the Senate for Indiana before he was chosen.
Republicans have trotted out the fiction that Obama is less experienced than Palin – which at least puts pressure on the Democrats to directly, comprehensively, refute that charge.
Obama is a former president of the Harvard Law Review, community organiser, member of the Illinois state senate, and law lecturer, who has run campaigns for the House of Representatives and the Senate. At the Senate he has been a member of the foreign relations committee and been involved in legislation to control nuclear weapons and boost public accountability in the use of Government funds. He has spent more than a year creating and debating domestic and foreign policy for his campaign.
Palin does have governing experience – unlike McCain, Obama or Biden – but of Alaska a state with less than 700,000 people and for less than two years.
Selecting a running mate is considered the first presidential decision a prospective president makes.
The bottom-line criterion is that he or she has to be capable of taking over if the president dies. Apart from the surprise crises that may arise and which no one can predict, the next president of the United States will have to deal with the economy headed for recession, health and housing issues, withdrawal from Iraq, the conflict in Afghanistan, terrorism, Pakistan, Iran and its nuclear programme, the problems of climate change and difficulties with Russia and North Korea.
McCain is 72 and has had bouts of skin cancer. He would be the oldest president yet at time of taking office.
When Obama was making his choice, he had enough insight to realise he needed a person with foreign policy experience to help to close his security deficit with McCain but also to help him govern. He specifically said he wanted someone he could trust and who would speak his mind. The selection of Biden didn’t contradict any of those statements.
McCain, after saying he would pick someone capable of being president, has not done so. His decision says he is focused more on winning than governing and that he feels he can handle all foreign/security matters as president himself – or with other advisers. Not Palin.
McCain has undercut BOTH his central arguments: That he is ready to lead and Obama isn’t, if McCain is experienced enough to lead, his Vice President should be too.
McCain is also risking his previous great advantage – his candidacy’s sense of safety and reassurance in comparison with Obama.
McCain’s selection of a vice president who lacks national and foreign policy experience and doesn’t meet any objective measure of a credible president, makes the whole thing look reckless, cosmetic and gimmicky. Above and all says a lot about McCain’s flawed judgement.
Asher writes from Calgary in Alberta, Canada, visit his website www.mutsengi.com to read more about his views and commentary on World and Zimbabwe politics
Posted by Gilbert Muponda
on September 1, 2008. Filed under Opinion.
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