As the allegations about Sarah Palin swirl, it's easy to miss one important point -- what was John McSame thinking when he picked her as his running mate?
The McSame campaign wants us to believe this election is about the experience to make good decisions, but we've seen nothing but horrible decisions come out of the campaign and the GOP leadership. Even if we forgive McSame's role in the Keating 5 scandal, we still have to deal with the fact that he thinks George Bush is doing a swell job and that it might be good for us to remain in Iraq for 100 years.
But even those pale in comparison to this Palin mess. Let's consider:
- The process -- McSame has had months since he was the presumed nominee to consider a running mate. During that time, the spotlight was on Obama and Clinton, so there was ample time to consider his choices and do preliminary background investigations. Despite this, he picks an unknown with considerable baggage and makes the announcement in time to splash the fallout all over the Republican convention which should be the opportunity to rally the party faithful for the cause.
- The research -- Reports say the campaign didn't put anyone in Alaska to research the potential nominee until the day before McSame announced Palin as his choice for VP. While no candidate wants news of his/her selection to leak early, shouldn't McSame have some people that he trusts enough to do a Google search? It was relatively easy for casual researchers to dig up dirt on Palin over a holiday weekend. We're going to learn a lot more when the National Enquirer begins spreading money around for copies of documents. If he can't trust anyone to help him here, where will he turn when matters of the nation are at stake?
- The choice -- Palin is the best they've got? Not by a long shot. The choice was clearly engineered to appeal to women and evangelicals, yet both groups are being slapped in the face with this questionable candidate. Women particularly should be offended. When the GOP picks its first woman for a presidential run, they trot out someone who is under attack within hours of being presented to the public. It shows how little significance they give to the event and how unconcerned they were about selecting a strong candidate to pave the way for future generations.
- The handling -- The Sarah Palin story is about as bizarre as it gets. Have you heard the stories that son Trig may actually not be Sarah's child? It's an incredible story that generates enough smoke to suggest there is some fire beneath. If it is false, then why hasn't the campaign moved to beat it down with birth certificates and statements from doctors backing Palin's story? The Obama campaign knew it had to kill false stories quickly before they gained traction. Either the McSame campaign is inept at handling such things or they're trying to figure out how to spin the facts. And that's the easy stuff. They've been equally inept at handling the issues they knew about.
McSame wants us to believe he can fix what's broken with America, but he and the rest of the Republican leadership just wants to give us more of the same. We only need to think back to Bush's choices of Alberto Gonzalez and Harriet Meiers to understand why McSame's decisions offer nothing new. We don't need more bad choices and bad decisions.
The Republican leadership are the poster children for incompetence. One has to wonder what it will take for the party's rank and file to send these baboons packing.
-- Jim Grinstead
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