McCain’s ‘Hail Sarah’ Pass
His choice for veep is all but set up for failure in the fall.
Jonathan Alter
Newsweek Web Exclusive
Updated: 5:18 PM ET Aug 29, 2008
Happy birthday, Johnny Mac! You're 72 now, a cancer survivor, and a presidential candidate who has said on many occasions that the most important criteria for picking a vice president is whether he or she could immediately step in if something happened to the president. Your campaign against Barack Obama is based on the simple idea that he is unready to be president. So you've picked a running mate who a year and a half ago was the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a town of 8,500 people. You've selected a potential leader of the free world who knows little or nothing about the major issues of the day beyond energy. Oh, and she's being probed in her state for lying and abuse of power.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's debut in Dayton on Friday was good political theater. She delivered a pitch-perfect speech (presumably written by McCain's ghost writer, Mark Salter) with a panache that suggests she could be a natural on the national stage. The well-kept secret of her selection let the GOP step on the story of Obama's boffo acceptance speech in Denver. It's not hard to see why she appealed to McCain: her middle-class roots; her older son headed for Iraq with the U.S. Army; her opposition to the earmarked "bridge to nowhere," which is arguably the only domestic issue that gets McCain excited. If camera-ready Palin helps McCain close the gender gap and win in November, she'll be history's hockey mom.
But there's a reason that rookies rarely score hat tricks. It's not her lack of name recognition; America loves a fresh face, especially one that's a cross between a Fox anchor and a character on "Northern Exposure," the old TV show about an Alaska town about the size of Wasilla. The problem is that politics, like all professions, isn't as easy as it looks. Palin's odds of emerging unscathed this fall are slim. In fact, she's been all but set up for failure.
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Governors often run for president, but only after many months of prep work on what they might confront in the White House. The last governor chosen for vice president was Spiro Agnew in 1968, and he was the governor of Maryland, which is right over the line from Washington, D.C., not thousands of miles away. Veep candidates with extensive Washington experience like Geraldine Ferraro and Dan Quayle were nonetheless grilled on policy and proved a drag on the ticket when they looked unpresidential.
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One way or another, an African-American or a woman will hold high office next year for the first time. That's progress. And it's possible that Palin is so talented that she will prove to be the face of the GOP's future. More likely, this "Hail Sarah" pass won't do much to help John McCain get into the end zone. He'll win or lose for other reasons.
- rest at www.newsweek.com/id/156258/output/print
McCain’s ‘Hail Sarah’ Pass
Discussion in 'Political Debate & Discussion' started by KenH, Aug 29, 2008.
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Support the Cuda in 08, 12, and 16 -
Sarah Palin, then 39, a hockey mom and former mayor of Wasilla, thought her dream of making a difference in the male-dominated realm of Alaska politics was over in 2004 when she clashed with the state chairman of her Republican party and fell out of favor with Gov. Frank Murkowski over issues related to ethics and openness in government.
Yet, the former high school basketball star and one-time TV journalist could not shake the feeling that she was destined for something bigger. Two years later, she became a long-shot candidate for governor, promising openness and a higher ethical standard.
Then, fate intervened. Her populist reform message suddenly became front-page news when a major political scandal rocked Alaska politics. Alaskans began listening to her. And they liked what they heard. -
Crabtownboy Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
- she's done drugs
- she's inexperienced
- she's a magazine beauty queen
Does this make her presidential material? -
I guess we will find out in the next two months.
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The OP is straight from the heart of a liberal, so he's HOPING it's a hail mary (Sarah) pass. Cause he's really running scared of defeat. :laugh:
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"Palin has said she smoked marijuana but didn't enjoy it and doesn't smoke anymore."
- http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/29/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4397109.shtml
"She was Miss Wasilla 1984, then runner-up in the Miss Alaska beauty contest."
- www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1050656/Revealed-McCains-running-mate-young-beauty-queen.html -
Was Obama born in Africa? -
Crabtownboy Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
1. a black American of African descent.
http://dictionary.reference.com/
Like, Irish-American, German-American, etc. -
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Was John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin a “Hail Sarah Pass?”
How do you define that and what does it mean. Was it an act of desperation? A big gamble that will either win or loose the election? I don’t think so. Certainly it was a carefully considered political move, but I don’t think the entire election will rest on this or any other individual decision but on the entire campaigns run by both parties.
Watching the all knowing all wise MSM this weekend I was very frustrated. They all seem to view this selection as an attempt by the Republican Party to woo disenchanted Hillary supporters from the Democrats. And they all seem worried that it might work.
Let me say that I think the selection of Sarah Palin was nothing short of genius. I think she is an excellent choice and it has solidified my vote for the McCain/Palin ticket. I was supporting Bob Barr until Palin was announced. I don’t like McCain at all and while I have great respect for his life of service he is not a conservative, I disagree with him often, and I just felt like I could not support another liberal. To me there is so little difference between McCain and Obama it was just not worth supporting the Republicans when they have turned their backs on the conservativism that was their success.
The selection of Sarah Palin as VP may win the election for the Republican Party. But it won’t be because they have won over Hillary supporters. No real Hillary supporter is going to support Palin. If anything Sarah Palin is the Anti-Hillary. She is pro life, pro guns, pro individual liberty, and pro oil. She stands for everything Hillary is against and is opposed to everything Hillary is for. The Republicans may win in November because Palin gives us a real conservative we can support and work for. It is not the disenfranchised Hillary supporters that this selection will win over but the disenfranchised conservatives. -
She was picked strictly to pick up the women base and a few men will vote for her based on looks. If McCain was picking for any other reasons than those two mainly, he would have picked Huckabee. Of which, would have gotten me closer to voting for him.
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I also think Gov Palin gives people the thought there is finally a chance to have someone in Washington who understands what they are going through. -
Bro. Curtis <img src =/curtis.gif>Site Supporter
That's why they will make their attempt to ruin Clarence Thomas' life look like an episode of the Walton's compared to the attack storm we will soon see.
Originally Posted by Crabtownboy
- she's done drugs
Did she break a law ?
- she's inexperienced
No she's not.
- she's a magazine beauty queen
Are you saying attractive women can't be smart ? -
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Revmitchell Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
Here is your answer:
http://www.baptistboard.com/showthread.php?t=52573 -
Couple of things I learned that is beginning to come out, when Palin campaigned for Gov she was in full support of the bridge to nowhere. It was when McCain exposed that bridge and gave it that name that she said no thanks. The problem is she still got the money, she was just told she could use it as she pleased.
Also, wasteful earmarks, how about she has 30+ of these earmarks worth close to $300 Million in her 2009 budget. While Mayor of a town of a few thousand, she hired a lobbyist who got that little town millions. Can you really fix the machine she is very much apart of?
I am looking at how much has came out on Sarah since the Friday announcement on a weekend where the press was in the gulf covering a Hurricane. Now that they are turning their guns toward her, it will be interesting to see what else shakes out...
I mean was she vetted? References are checked for a job at McDonald's. Surely the VP should get some friends called or something?
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