kirktastic

I’m still in the state of disbelief over McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin yesterday for his VP. Of course the first thing I had to do is see what wikipedia had to say since I haven’t heard of America’s most popular governor (actually I had, his name is Arnold Schwarzeneggar, but that pesky constitution makes him ineligible for the position).

I’m stunned to find that “Mr. Experience” chose someone with so little experience. The Republican Talking Points play up she’s a governor of Alaska but fail to mention that although a huge land mass, has less than 700K people. More people live in my small city than in that state. Well, before that she was mayor (Karl Rove called it the second largest city in Alaska, but even in Alaska a village with only a few thousand people won’t make the top 10). McCain says she has experience with the military since her son enlisted (on September 11th no less!) and is going off to Iraq soon (and she’s also Commander in Chief of the Alaska National Guard). The Republican talking heads are already saying she has more executive experience than Obama and Biden (but fail to add McCain to that worthless list). She’s a maverick! She’s a reformer! She went after big oil! (she basically got a windfall profits tax for Alaskans — what Obama’s talked about on the national level). The complete moron Steve Dooce on Fox News claimed that she had international experience because Alaska is right next to Russia. I have more experience dealing with the Russian government than she does. She killed the “Bridge to Nowhere.” She didn’t kill it, Congress killed the funding for it and when Alaska had to pay for it by itself, she said no. Not because she was a maverick, but because she wasn’t an idiot.


But she does have the qualifications that seem to count. She’s an evangelical christian. She’s anti-choice. She wants creationism taught in schools. She’s a lifetime member of the NRA. She snowmobiles. She’s a former beauty queen. She’s a mom five times over. She’s charming. She’s a kid compared to old man McCain. And the dems may have a black candidate, she’s a woman.

The behind the scenes people that run the republican party are smart. I doubt, as some pundits have suggested that women who were disappointed that Hillary didn’t get the nomination would vote for her. Do they really think that Hillary supporters only voted for her because she was a woman? Really? So women are going to vote for a woman that is anti-choice, anti-health care, anti-everything else Hillary stood for? They’re willing to give up the right to chose and control over their own bodies because McCain selected a woman? That is crazy. This isn’t the Ellen James society. Do the republicans really think this about women? That they’re that stupid? They’re not GOP and I hope to god they come out on election day and show you just how wrong you are.

And will they start using “you’re saying that because she’s a woman” as a response to any criticism on her experience or missteps which she’s bound to have. Of course they will. People are already saying Biden will have a problem in the debates because he might come across as sexist or condescending. In elementary school you were told you can’t hit a girl. And you can’t hit someone with glasses (Palin wears glasses!) I hope people remember Palin isn’t a girl. She’s a woman and she needs to be taken to task on her stance on the issues. I’m not disqualifying her because she’s a woman. If McCain felt he needed a woman to offset Obama’s change (read that as he’s black), there are several other women in the republican party with more experience in international affairs and the workings of the federal government. Palin didn’t get a passport until last year!

Certainly Palin is bright and capable of many things. Maybe it will play out like that TV show Commander In Chief. I like how McCain’s campaign advisor said that he won’t die during his first term of office. W is probably one of the most fit presidents in the history of the country and he almost choked to death on a pretzel. Yes, McCain is a healthy 72 year old. I hope to be as healthy when I’m that age. Hell, I hope to make it that long. Yes, the probability is low that McCain will die in office since there’s never been presidents assassinated or airplanes crash or car wrecks or any of a million other things that kill people every day. What about John Henry Harrison? President for a month.

Palin has the potential to be a strong voice for the republicans, but they should have started the publicity campaign like originally planned. She was scheduled to speak at the convention next week about her pro life stance and lay out her life story. Then over the next four years get the international experience and get into the national spotlight. She could take Ted Steven’s place (that crook Alaska Senator up for reelection) and spend time in DC. Then in 2012 (or 2016). Now, if she fucks up because she wasn’t ready yet, she’ll go into obscurity. Unlike many of the current crop of Republican women, she’s anti-choice where most of the others (Christine Whitman, Olympia Snowe, etc) are on the record as pro-choice.

So why did the power behind the republicans do this? Palin is a poster girl for the evangelical voter. The same ones that think that McCain isn’t conservative enough and so might stay home on election day. The ones that Rove got out to vote in 2000 and 2004 because the democrats were baby killers and going to take their guns away. All they need to do is get these people out to vote again. So it is going to be a repeat of 2004 in OH. If they can suppress enough Obama voters and get the evangelicals out to vote we’re going to see McCain in the White House in January.

What McCain has done is not made this a historical event where we see the first time a woman is nominated for VP by the republicans. No, he’s made it about abortion and Jesus. And that faux brand of patriotism (DID YOU SEE THE SIZE OF HER FLAG PIN!).

I also can’t help but wonder if this might a Harriet Miers thing. If she’s not embraced and McCain doesn’t see a bump in the swing states, all the sudden Palin will need to spend more time with her family taking care of her special needs son. McCain picks a candidate with a better resume. To me that is worse. Picking Palin is either brilliant strategy or it is a misstep. If she’s replaced before November, it just shows McCain is unfit to lead.

The McCain that was my senator (I didn’t vote for him) when I was in Arizona and the McCain that ran for president in 2000 are completely different than what we’re seeing now. He’s totally sold out any principles or integrity he had. I think the maverick McCain of 2000 would punch the water carrying lackey McCain of 2008 in the mouth. He’d run over the 2008 McCain with the straight talk express. If he’s able to sell out like he has so far. And if he makes such a clearly pandering choice in VP, is he really who should lead the US?