John McCain and his cohorts are the only ones who think this election is a big joke. After four awesome and historic nights in Denver, Democrats were on the move, more united and determined to get rid of the Bush-McCain eight years of misery. The paranoid and desperate Republican nominee decided to roll the dice. He came up with an unknown running mate, a former beauty queen, 44 years old Sarah Palin. An unnamed GOP strategist described her simply: "She is someone nobody knows."
The Governor of Alaska is former mayor of a town of 9,000. She is the mother of five kids. In the event McCain was to win the election, and God forbid was called up yonder, she would be a heartbeat away from the presidency. Among her much touted credentials: she knew her last child had Downed Syndrome and she decided to have her instead of an abortion. Yes, that takes courage. The country does not need a night nurse at McCain’s bedside. It needs competent and steady leadership in the event of an unforeseen tragedy. Eight years of rampant mismanagement at all levels of government has proven beyond reasonable doubt that the American people cannot take a chance on more of the same.
Folks, the problem here is not necessarily Mrs. Palin. It is the failing judgment of an old man who believes that politics is more important that the national interest. By choosing Sarah Palin as his VP, McCain demonstrated that self-interest and style are more important considerations than substance. His choice is confirmation that the Republicans are prepared to put young lives at risk in the crusade for ideology. If McCain can pick Palin as VP, he will have no difficulty sending young men and women into combat when the country’s national security interest is not at stake. Indeed, Obama is right: "McCain does not get it!"
All along, the press have reminded us that a Vice Presidential choice of a running mate is the most important decision the nominee has to make prior to become president, if elected. Well, if that was John McCain’s most impressive choice he fell far short and is gambling with the national interest.
Of course there are some conservatives who are giddy about the decision. If you listen to Sean Hannity and his crowd you would think Sarah Palin, the unknown political quantity, is manna from heaven. They argue that she compliments McCain because she brings executive experience to the ticket. Executive experience that McCain lacks. So, here is McCain, seeking the most powerful position in the world with no executive experience and they want us to believe that Obama is inexperienced? They say she is pro-life, pro-guns and pro-pageants and that makes her Joe Biden’s equal. Really?
Here is the cockeyed reasoning that I think went into McCain’s straw pull. After watching and listening to the well-executed and almost flawless Democratic convention in Denver, McCain wanted to do something unusual to grab media attention. Unable to match the popularity and charisma of Barack Obama, McCain believes that pulling Sarah Palin from obscurity will send the media into a frenzy. Besides, he is listening to all the media hype about how white women will not vote for Obama. In addition, he thinks that there are dissatisfied women who are pissed off with the Democrats because Hillary is not on the ticket. The fallacy of that analysis is that McCain assumes that those women will rally behind any woman. Palin may be a woman but she does not represent the interest of those women who supports Hillary Clinton. Interestingly, Palin believes that government should interfere with a woman’s right to control her reproductive organs. She cannot trust women to make their own choices in conjunction with their families and doctors.
McCain’s VP choice represents an act of utter desperation. The press reports that he has only met her once prior to extending an invitation for her to be on the ticket, suggesting an even more sinister or senile act. But, if that is the best McCain can come up with in the interest of country, then one must ask how patriotic is this act? As someone said recently, Republicans don’t give a damn about county. Their overriding goal is power at all cost.
Unfortunately, the once renowned maverick has not only lost the wheels from his ‘Straight Talk Express,’ he seems to have also lost his gonads. He is simply out of it."
(Updated)