McCain Should Pick Sarah Palin for VP
Aug 15th, 2008 | By Guest Authors | Category: Politics, Economics, & Public Policy~by Jack Kelly
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin
Who? When?
Republicans including, I imagine, Sen. McCain himself are asking these questions about his selection of a vice presidential candidate.
Ideally, a presidential candidate wants a running mate who will help him or her win the election, and (maybe) to govern afterwards. But most will settle for a veep who isn’t a drag on the ticket, as Dan Quayle was for the first President Bush.
Traditionally, a presidential nominee has chosen a running mate to balance the ticket geographically, or to appease a faction of the party. The most successful example of this was when John F. Kennedy picked Lyndon Johnson, though neither liked the other, and LBJ joined the ticket only because he thought Kennedy would lose.
Bill Clinton broke with this tradition when he chose another young (purported) moderate from a neighboring southern state. By picking Al Gore, he hoped to reinforce his campaign theme of generational change.
Which way will Sen. McCain go? The potential running mates most often discussed have downsides nearly as great as their upsides. Gov. Tim Pawlenty helps only in Minnesota, and not enough, according to current polls, to make a difference there. Sen. McCain’s friend Sen. Joe Lieberman would bring in some moderate Democrats, but could further antagonize conservatives already suspicious of Sen. McCain. Gov. Romney would have little appeal to working class whites unhappy with Sen. Obama, and evangelicals fret about that Mormon thing. A Huckabee nomination would irritate economic and foreign policy conservatives as much as it would please evangelicals.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is a rising star. But he’s only 36, and he’s been governor for less than a year.
There is one potential running mate who has virtually no down side. Those conservatives who’ve heard of her were delighted to learn that McCain advance man Arthur Culvahouse was in Alaska recently, because they surmised he could only be there to discuss the vice presidential nomination with Gov. Sarah Palin.
At 44, Sarah Louise Heath Palin is both the youngest and the first female governor in Alaska’s relatively brief history as a state. She’s also the most popular governor in America, with an approval rating that has bounced around 90 percent.
This is due partly to her personal qualities. When she was leading her underdog Wasilla high school basketball team to the state championship in 1982, her teammates called her “Sarah Barracuda” because of her fierce competitiveness.
Two years later, when she won the “Miss Wasilla” beauty pageant, she was also voted “Miss Congeniality” by the other contestants.
Sarah Barracuda. Miss Congeniality. Fire and nice. A happily married mother of five who is still drop dead gorgeous. And smart to boot.
But it’s mostly because she’s been a crackerjack governor, a strong fiscal conservative and a ferocious fighter of corruption, especially in her own party.
Ms. Palin touches other conservative bases, some of which Sen. McCain has been accused of rounding. Track, her eldest son, enlisted in the Army last Sept. 11. She’s a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association who hunts, fishes and runs marathons. A regular churchgoer, she’s staunchly pro-life.
Kimberley Strassel of the Wall Street Journal said Sen. McCain should run against a corrupt, do-nothing Congress, a la Harry Truman. If he should choose to do so, Gov. Palin would make an excellent partner “The landscape is littered with the bodies of those who have crossed Sarah,” pollster Dave Dittman told the Weekly Standard’s Fred Barnes.
Sen. Barack Obama’s support has plunged recently among white women. Many Hillary Clinton supporters accuse him — I think unfairly — of being sexist. Having Sarah Palin on the ticket could help Sen. McCain appeal to these disgruntled Democrats.
Running mates usually aren’t named until the convention. But if Sen. McCain should name Gov. Palin earlier, it would give America more time to get to know this extraordinary woman. And because she’s at least a dozen feature stories waiting to be written, she could help him dominate the news between now and the conventions.
Another reason for selecting Sarah Palin early would be to force Barack Obama to make a mistake. He’d have to rule out choosing someone like Virginia Sen. Jim Webb as his running mate, for fear of exacerbating charges of sexism. And if he chose a woman other than Hillary, the impression Democrats are wimpy would be intensified.
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Gov. Palin works for me.
In the age of recognizing that gender really doesn’t matter, Gov. Palin brings two key assets to the table:
A) She gets things DONE in her state.
B) She’d be fully up to the task of the presidency should the worst, God forbid, happen to President McCain.
Yo, John. Pick her.
:o)
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Thanks for running this story. It even made it on news.google “Palin VP’ search so that’s awesome.
Conservatives unite behind McCain/Palin ticket!!
Join us, take action!
http://www.palinforamerica.com
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/palinforvp/ -Our petition with 2600 pledges of support and growing.
http://www.palinforamerica.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3
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“and Evangelicals fret about the Mormon thing.”
Mormon’s have voted for Evangelicals for over a century. I wonder what would happen if the Mormons decided to reciprocate and start “fretting about the Evangelical thing.” There are 5 million Mormons in the United States, enough to make a dent, if not in votes, than in political contributions. I would think that might change the balance. If I were a Democrat of a third party member, and I might be, I would be courting the Mormons regardless of whether Romney is selected as the VP. The unwritten story is what might happen with the Mormon base if politics seem to be swayed by Evangelical anti-Mormon sentiment.
Palin would add diversity to the ticket–she’s young and female–but she’s also smart, plainspoken, charismatic…lots of qualities not as vibrant in McCain. And she’s a governor, lending her that beautiful executive quality.
And in 8 years she’ll be 52 and ready to take the reigns (or in 4 depending on McCain’s health…)
I’m all for her.
Sorry to disappoint, fellow conservatives and supporters of Israel; but Gov. Palin is in serious trouble at home in Alaska. She is under investigation by a joint Legislative Council of the AK State Legislature (the last time this happened to a sitting Gov was in the early 1980’s). While she has adamently denied any wrongdoing, two days ago, in a defiant news conference, she had to admit that her admininstration had done the very things she denied. There is a very damning tape to top it all off. Visit Alaska’s largest newspaper’s site at adn.com and esp. read the blog comments; visit the Voice of the Times, AK’s conservative online newspaper; visit andrewhalcro.com - the source that keeps breaking stories on the scandal. Visit the top rated conservative talk radio personality in the state - Dan Fagin at KFQD.com (click the podcast link and download his daily three hours of podcasts) - or listen to him on line from 2-5pm AST.
On paper Sarah is some of the things you mention: she is young and attractive. She is not a reformer; she is not all that well informed on issues; she is NOT a conservative, certainly not fiscally and she alone had the ability to call for a special session to call a vote on parental consent for minors receiving abortions, which she refused to do. In the last six weeks her time as governor has been riddled with allegations, factual instances of misuse of power and bizarre and constant cover-ups.
Please do a wee bit more investigative looking into her before singing her praises. The reason she’s risen to prominence in the eyes of many conservatives is because the the primary (perhaps the only) AP reporter for the State dates/has dated Sarah’s right hand aide, Ivy Frye.
I know I don’t want Obama…heck I help run a website against Obama at http://discoverobama.com
I also know that I don’t really like McCain. Unless McCain chooses a conservative like Pawlenty, Palin, Jindal, or Huckabee, I’m out.
Ridge, Lieberman, or Romney and I’m out!!!
Sue, thanks for that information. I’ll do a bit of digging, though initially what I’ve heard is that a lot of the scandal charges are BS, or that even if there was government misdeeds, Palin was unaware of them.
Lisa,
I like Pawlenty and Palin. Jindal is too young, and Huckabee isn’t a conservative, he’s an evangelical populist.
No Romney, eh?
Sue…I’ve done my research (the good and bad…from supporters and non-supporters) and as a Reagan Republican I endorse Palin. Do I agree with everything she’s done…no. But I still support her 100%.
Wow Sue! Thanks for the links. There is a coverup — the coverup by the troopers and the Department of Public Safety to protect a rogue cop.
Her support for the homosexual agenda is a non-starter. Disgusting woman.
The Palin administration has been a terrible disappointment to many Alaskans, most especially since she was swept in on her anti-corruption platform and now is proving that she’s just as corrupt as those she displaced.
Sadly, she has yet to learn that when a faux pas has occurred, it is best to come clean, because, if not, the cover-up will be worse than the original snafu. Over the past month, she has shown herself to be petty, vindictive, vapid, imperious, and worst of all, deceitful.
The “rogue cop” angle, by the way, is nothing more than a red herring, designed to draw attention away from her own misdeeds. (All … ALL the complaints against the man were filed by members of the Palin family. Many are exaggerations with some basis in truth; however, just as many are fabrications, ultimately shown to be false.)
Sarah is young and photogenic, but those are not qualifications for leadership. She would do nothing for McCain other than taint him with her stink. Trust me, Saracuda is not ready for prime time.
Looks to me like this is no easy choice for McCain! I wish the anti-Palin’s would offer their first choice for VP. That would throw a better light on the situation?
Who do you like, if not Palin? Pawlenty? Jindal? Romney?
I’m curious to hear everyone’s thoughts…
Thanks, E.D., for the inclusive welcome. I’m afraid, however, that my political leanings would not be to the taste of the regulars here. (Jim, above, would likely be appalled at some of my beliefs.) I had to leave the Republican party, because, as a non-Christian, I felt unwelcome there. I fell in with the Libertarians, because, for the most part, I respect their platform. Unfortunately, they rarely have a nominee who is not a nutcase or whose main issue isn’t drug legalization. At the moment, I’m in the process of switching my registration to nonpartisan, but, philosophically, I’m a (small “l”) libertarian. So, you see, I’m not really one of you.
However, since you asked
Romney is my guy. He is the only one with the combination of age, experience, intelligence, and gravitas to handle the second highest position in our country representing us with dignity here and abroad. And, heavens forbid, if something were to happen to McCain, he could step in readily and take over as our President.
Thanks again, E.D. Now that I’ve found you, I’ll be sure to swing on by on occasion to see how you folks are doing.
Sad Alaskan,
Nah, you fit in find. One of our writers is the chair for the Libertarian Defense Caucus. I know at least one other is a “conservatarian.” Two of our British writers are atheist neocons. I myself describe my political leaning as neolibertarian/neoconservative, because I’m very much the “government stay out of our bedroom, don’t tax the crap out of us, leave us alone” type, but I also believe that we need a strong, assertive military in this globalized world.
Read this article for some of the views that you’ll find around here. Murray has very similar political views as myself. Not everyone that writes for the site agrees with each other, but its very inclusive to multiple viewpoints!
Come back anytime!
Mr. Kain, I cannot thank you enough for your comments and for that link. I read it twice, took quotes from it, bookmarked it, and plan to refer to it often.
Please forgive me for my short-sightedness and the inappropriate conclusions I drew about this site.
Your “government stay out of our bedroom, don’t tax the crap out of us, leave us alone” stance once worked quite well here in Alaska, but sadly, the times they are a-changin’ and we’re becoming increasingly dependent on the government. Even though I’m a relative newcomer here, it’s sad to see it happen. But that’s another topic for another day.
Thank you again for your invitation. I will, indeed be back.
By the way, I would amend your governmental philosophy just a little: the far-righties in the government should stay out of our bedrooms, the lefties should stay out of our bathrooms — I HATE those damnable MANDATED low-flow, two-flush toilets!
Sad–
Yeah, I hate those stupid toilets, too. Cheers!
The Dems and the MSM are salivating for McCain to pick Romney and are utterly terrified of McCain picking Palin!
Can you say female Reagan? Sarah Palin is the perfect choice. She fills McCain’s weaknesses very well and is a true conservative, not afraid to expose BOTH paties misdoings. Gov. Palin is exactly what we need, when we need it most.
Fighting corruption? She’s locked in a corruption investigation RIGHT NOW.
Fiscal Conservative? She’s giving a $1200 handout to the residents on top of the $2100 projected Alaska PFD payout.
Her approval rating is so high, because we here in AK have had a long run of crap. Anyone who shells $1200 out to help with “energy costs” is going to get a strong approval approval rating. She is inexperienced and an Alaskan politician. Name one good Alaskan politician, so far she’s been no different, except she writes checks.
Oh and she just announced (a few days after an investigation showed she had fired a well respected former chief of police of AK’s largest city and replaced him with an individual who was accused of sexual harrassment, because he would not allow the termination of a trooper that was locked in a bitter divorce with her sister) that AK residents will be getting their PFD and energy welfare checks, a whole month early! quite a coincidence.
Despite the Dems and the allied main stream media’s desperation to see Romney as McCain’s Veep, Mitt is clearly out, with (1) Obama doubling down on the class warfare theme (McCain’s 7 houses) and (2) McCain doubling down with ads showing the hypocrisy of Biden attacking Obama in the primaries — Romney did way more than that contra McCain.
This leaves only Govs Sarah Palin and Tim Pawlenty. Pro-abortion Ridge and Dem-Lieberman were never real considerations, despite relentless media goading. Pawlenty’s lackluster TV performances, coupled with Palin pizzazz, the primacy of oil drilling and the ticked off women/Hillary voters, does now portend a McCain/Palin checkmate on the Dems. This is so albeit the Dems and liberal media dare not mention Palin’s name, that is, everyone but…..
And if there’s any question as to Palin being uniquely positioned and able to more than nullify Biden in debate, see the excellent discussion at palinforvp.blogspot.com
Team McCain, well done!!!
I have been on the fence leaning towards using the write in vote option come November. However, if McCain should pick Palin for VP, I will vote the McCain-Palin Ticket.
I watched several interviews with Palin on YouTube. She is an amazing person who gives straight answers and makes solid eye contact. Speaking of eyes, she has the spark of enthusiasm in hers.
Sarah Palin knew at 9 weeks gestation that her 5th child had down syndrome. There was never a question for her or her husband. She carried and gave birth to her beautiful baby boy. That’s real Pro-Life in action.
Palin is from common roots. Her parents are teachers, her husband a commercial fisherman, her son a U.S. Army foot soldier, and she is a lifelong member of the NRA. That appeals to the average, hard working American.
She stood up to the party elite and Sen. Stephens over his earmark for the “bridge to nowhere”. She will bring that strength and integrity to the ticket as VP.
There are millions of disaffected Clinton followers, mostly women, who are looking for an option. Palin will draw millions of those voters. And she is really Catholic, as opposed to Biden’s pro-choice catholic stand. She will draw Catholics looking for a viable option.
Palin represents the future of Republicans and conservatives. She wears that mantle well.
Sadly, McCain sounds a lot like Claude Raines in Casablanca “Round up the usual suspects”.
Hopefully McCain will look beyond the usual suspects and make the smart choice - Sarah Palin.
Palin represents the future of Republicans and conservatives. She wears that mantle well.
Frank, so true. And Conservatives need all the enthusiastic, youthful representation they can get!
As a life long Republican and Ph.D. candidate, I spend a great deal of time analyzing politics. John McCain NEEDS Sarah Palin and Sarah would be the difference maker in his campaign. If I could speak with John McCain personally, I would beg him to think about what Sarah brings to the table and urge him to give her the nod.
Looks like all the pro-Palin’s on this thread will be happy! She has been confirmed as the VP nominee for the McCain ticket!
McCain/Palin 2008!!!
As a super voter who never misses an election, great or small, I find myself in a position where I have no one to vote for. I can’t vote for Obama, nor can I vote for a ticket that includes that vapid, silly, deceitful, spiteful, totally inexperienced twit one heartbeat from the presidency.
I feel as if I’d just been dealt a body blow. And so has our country, but we’re so large we just haven’t felt the full impact yet.
Oh well. Another lesson to learn the hard way: politics trumps ethics every time.