Sarah Palin: "The Harriet Miers of Running Mates"
Posted by Jessica in 2008 Presidential Race, Republicans
So Sarah Palin...I was pretty surprised, but not horribly surprised. As soon as I heard the loud rumblings 2 days ago about Kay Bailey Hutchison, I knew McCain was looking for someone conventional yet different.
I was still surprised that he picked Gov. Palin because she has very little experience and that in and of itself is bad, because she is a "heartbeat away from being President" but also because it completely destroys McCain's primary argument that Obama isn't ready.
I have characterized the Palin choice as BRILLIANT but very very risky. If it pays off, it may be the best thing he did during his campaign (aside from focusing on NEW HAMPSHIRE). If McCain loses, people will surely point to this gamble of a choice as a big reason why.
Palin is a brilliant choice because she is a woman, young, has that reform cred, is very popular in Alaska (though the Alaska Republican Party powers that be hate her), and the conservatives love her. As proof of that love, since McCain announced the choice, his campaign has seen $7 million in donations.
Governor Palin has some controversial views and there are some corruption and cronyism charges against her and her administration in Alaska, but many voters, too many voters, may simply overlook that and vote for the McCain/Palin ticket.
