McCain Chooses a Babe

McCain chose Alaskan, Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate in an obvious ploy to attract disaffected Hillaryites and hormonal males attracted to a “babe” (Rush Limbaugh’s word). However, as has been widely noted, by choosing a "hockey mom" with only one-and-a-half years experience as governor, he's undermining his contention that Obama is "too inexperienced" to be president. Considering McCain's age and medical history, his running mate would have a good shot at becoming president. So by placing someone in line for the presidency with even less experience than Obama, (and none in Washington politics), McCain reveals the extent to which his grasping opportunism prevails over principle.

The McCain people say “if the Democrats challenge our number 2 on the basis of inexperience, we’ll challenge their number 1 with the same argument.” What the McCain people fail to realize, is that in the debates the Democrats can remain silent on the issue, leaving it to the press to challenge Palin's credentials. If the Republicans then challenge Obama's experience, the Democrats can justifiably counterpunch with an accusation of Republican hypocrisy, given Palin's obvious lack of national and international experience. Accordingly, Republicans may have forfeited, or at least weakened, one of their main lines of attack on Obama.

What McCain apparently has failed to consider is the extent to which the veteran Washington insider, Joe Biden, will eat Sarah's lunch during the veep debate, at least in terms of understanding national issues. I thought the choice of Biden was masterful, by the way, a perfect complement to Obama. I remember being impressed by Biden’s performance during the Democratic presidential candidates’ debates. On every issue, Biden could cite remedial legislation that he had sponsored and for which he didn’t seem to get any credit, and then said, in exasperation “Maybe I’ve been around too long.” (You could almost hear Rodney Dangerfield sighing in wherever.) Palin has already invoked comparisons with Hillary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro. I can just hear Biden saying "I know Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton is a friend of mine, and Ms. Palin, you're no Hillary Clinton."