Why McCain's Choice of Sarah Palin is So Dangerous

The Dangerous Palin Decision

McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate is a dangerous decision, not only because of who Palin is, but because of what it says about McCain.

Palin is basically a social conservative nightmare, and in McCain's case, she is way too close to the presidency if the Republican ticket wins. She would be dangerous as President not only for her conservative zealotry, but because of her total lack of experience in the major arenas of foreign policy and national security. Let's face it, she was the mayor of a town of like 7,000 only two years ago, and her major concern was getting roads paved. As Governor, all she's done is advocated for gas and oil, and against poor polar bears.

McCain did not vet Sarah Palin. No one from his campaign went up to Alaska to check her out. In fact, it's been admitted that she was a last minute decision, seemingly on-the-fly. On "This Week" this morning, Sen. Lindsey Graham said, as criticism of Obama, that this pick was not "calculated politics" (if I remember the phrasing correct). It scares me how Republicans think they can so easily make a compliment something to be ashamed of. I am much more in support of Obama actually calculating his decisions. That McCain admittedly did not calculate this decision is foolhardy and irresponsible. (This stupid celebrity argument against Obama, too. Uhm, if so many people like him and he inspires so many, that's like, a good thing?)

And what about the fact that she's under investigation for unethically using her power as an elected official? Both in Wasilla and as Gov. this has happened. How could he not take this into consideration? Already, this fact comes up in just about every story on her I've read. Hopefully it hangs around their necks like a millstone for the entire campaign.

McCain's lack of investigative curiosity says much about how he might govern, and I suggest it would be a very dangerous way of governing. So, what if Iran keeps building nuclear power plants? Will McCain, in a "Maverick" stroke of spontaneity, decide to attack? How many other crucial decisions will he make last minute without much investigation?

(I put forth that the Maverick identity is itself dangerous, and not a compliment for McCain. The U.S. has been a maverick on the world stage under Bush and look where that got us. A president needs to be cooperative internationally, and acting alone or with your own singular whim is dangerous.)

That he wouldn't more seriously consider this decision (and seriously means almost anyone else, albeit maybe a man by chance) suggests how little seriously he takes the position of VP, and how careless he's willing to be for an extremely important decision (how purely political he's willing to be, perhaps).

The decision is also ridiculous purely because it completely undermines McCain's main attack on Obama, that he's too inexperienced. That's another thing that really scares me about Republicans. If someone else does it, it's a horrible over-exaggerated scandal. When they do it, it's the best thing since sliced bread, the obvious smartest thing to do, and a solid, unarguable decision. Obama is too inexperienced to be President, but Sarah Palin is the perfect choice for McCain's running mate because she brings so much executive experience and is ready day one to be Commander in Chief. Caribou shit (Palin likes to shoot and kill them, btw).

Anyway, what that says about McCain is that he'll talk one way and act another (we're familiar with this too, from Bush). He'll either blindly or arrogantly use a double-standard--that the rules and judgments that apply to others don't apply to him; that what's wrong for everyone else is just fine for him.

Then there's this ridiculous belief that simply by choosing a Woman, Palin of all people, that he'll woo disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters. And, somehow, magically transform all those people who supported her into evangelical zombies. Palin is so completely different from Hillary, on the complete other end of the political spectrum, that it is ludicrous for him to think that this is the ticket to scoop-up all those women. This suggests how out-of-touch McCain is, and how chauvinistically simplistic he thinks this is. He must think that the only reason people backed Hillary is because she was a woman, and therefore, all he needs is A Woman, and this will fool them. What, are they all too stupid to notice that she's an Anti-Hillary in all other aspects? How insulting.

Proximity = Experience?

Another thing that just really annoys me, though it's a bit tangential. Also this morning on "This Week" (can you tell I'm a fan?) George Stephanopoulos interviewed Cindy McCain, and asked her about Palin's national security/foreign relations experience. Cindy says something close to "Don't forget, Alaska is the closest state to Russia, so she knows what to expect." Ok, just WTF kind of argument is that? In what way does Alaska interact with Russia that lends credentials as a foreign relations expert?

In Cindy's argument, mere proximity to a land mass gives experience with a complex, important, and perilous political and social arena that foreign policy and national security are. Cindy, however, fails to realize just how big Alaska is, and Palin is all the way over to the east in Juneau. I am a little over a thousand miles closer to Canada than Juneau is to Russia. You may have guessed, me and Prime Minister Stevie Harper are on the phone all the time, I'm an expert on Canadian affairs. Right. Heck, I'm closer to Washington D.C. than Juneau is to Russia, maybe I could be U.S. President. You know what? Half of the United States is closer to me than Juneau is to Russia, so I think even by the proximity=experience argument, Palin can't have much.

Not to mention, Palin or Alaska simply haven't had anything to do with Russia in her near two years as Governor of that sparsely-populated state (to that, Alaska is less populated than Brooklyn, only slightly more populated than Boston, MA).

This is another fundamental thing that scares me about Republicans: That they can make such ridiculous arguments and deliver them as if they actually had any weight. Scarier than all these Republican traits is that a lot of people actually fall for it.

The good news is that John Kerry really tore Palin apart after Lindsey Graham on "This Week."

My Hopes for Palin on the Campaign
1. The court of public opinion, with the media's help, will make clear how undeserving Palin is.
2. Palin, unseasoned in national campaigns, will oversimplify things as she is said to do, and appear vapid and over her head, and end up saying a lot of stupid, naive things.
3. That she'll simply start talking about her views and her beliefs on social issues.
4. That she'll appear laughably ridiculous in front of Biden when they debate and stand not a chance against his experience and skill.
5. That she'll implode or spontaneously combust (politically, personally speaking) on the trail.
6. That women voters will have a reverse reaction to her than McCain believes, and drive women voters to Obama.
7. That evangelical voters will not flock out to vote just because McCain put one on the ticket.

This campaign is almost too scary to watch, but I am keeping my hope strong that Obama will stand out above all this. I have to believe. The alternative is an existential crisis for the United States.