McCain - Palin?
Update: CBS news bulletin at 7:40 am PDT… it IS Palin. Under an ethics cloud, less experience than Obama, but it likely guarantees he’ll hold AK’s 3 electoral votes.
Update: Further confirmation it’s NOT Pawlenty.
7:03 am PDT Update: CBS is reporting it’s NOT Romney, either. So unless ABC has the Palin-still-in-Alaska story wrong, this still leaves one person, George Bush’s pick: Portman. However, since McCain ALSO told CBS it would be an ‘historic pick’, does that mean Bobby Jindal or Kay Bailey Hutchison is back in the mix? Howzabout EBay CEO Meg Whitman?
………..
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin? If so, he had to reach deep to demonstrate some maverick bonafides again.
I have trouble buying it. She’s three years younger than Obama, making the ‘inexperience’ charge harder for McCain to wield. And it would seem like a deliberate effort to go after disaffected Hillary supporters. But she’s built her career on clean politics, bucking her own party to do so.
But guess again: from Wikipedia…. man are they on to this fast!
Palin has been rumored as a candidate for the vice-presidency with Republican presumptive nominee Senator John McCain in the 2008 election.[55][56] Due to her gender, youth, background in government reform, pro-life stance, fiscal and social conservatism, and an approval rating in Alaska generally in the range of 80 to 90 percent, Palin could become the second female vice-presidential nominee of a major party, following Geraldine Ferraro as Democratic nominee in 1984. Palin is supported by a community of online groups.[57][57][58][59][60][61]
On August 29, 2008, Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends reported that Palin’s family departed hastily from Anchorage, Alaska, aboard a Gulfstream jet that landed near Dayton, Ohio, site of McCain’s planned vice presidential announcement. They cited the website Change&Experience.com, which also had correctly leaked travel details for Senator Joseph Biden to Springfield, Illinois, for Barack Obama’s announcement. [62]. The report cited two men, a woman and two teenage boys, were seen departing the plane, in “the most secretive flight we have ever had” at this particular airport.
Later that morning, ABCnews reported that Palin was in Alaska and had no plans to leave for Ohio.
The InTrade betting swung from Pawlenty to Palin. Some folks still think its Mitt.
I think the key swing states McCain needs to pursue are FL, OH, MI, MO, VA, CO and on that basis, Portman (OH) and Mitt (MI) have an edge. Would Pawlenty swing MN? The odds aren’t great, but it could happen.
But the bottom line is that McCain doesn’t have the luxury of a VP who can’t swing a state. If he paralled Bush in 2004 but lost VA - which is distinctly possible - or OH, he’d lose. So those three guys are the likeliest picks:
Mitt Romney: Jeb Bush’s favorite, reinforces his penchant for going along with Bush choices.
Rob Portman: a lobbyist for Oman, and served in several slots as a Bush appointee and close friend, and Bob Novak claims he’s George’s fave in the Veepstakes. Man, there’s that Bush influence again.
Tim Pawlenty: Won re-election 46.7% to 45.7% in 2006, which doesn’t suggest he can swing MN. And… Claimed today he WASN’T the pick.
Which leaves the Bush boy choices.
August 29th, 2008 at 8:17 am
Romney would help lessen the margin of defeat in Michigan for the Republicans and he’ll shore up Mormon support in Nevada. Elsewhere, he’ll be seen as a cold polished flip flopping Mormon (nothing against Mormons, but I think most Americans do).
Palin would enthuse women, Hillary voters, evangelicals, Obama haters.
August 29th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Palin would be an…odd…choice, but it’s an odd campaign and a pick like that would be par for the stumbling course. I suspect, tho, that you’re right about Portman. I mean, McC has done everything Bush has told him to do up to now. Why wouldn’t he let the Emperor pick his VP?
August 29th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
I feel a little bit sorry for Palin. She should have had enough sense to turn down this job. This is an embarrassing pick for McCain, like when Bush picked Harriet Meyers for the supreme court. Moreover its a totally irresponsible pick for McCain.
I woke up this morning still admiring McCain as a patriot who loves his country, but is just wrong. Now I’m wondering how on earth a person who so persistently stokes my fear of terrorists and other calamities would be willing to turn their country over to a snowmachin’in hockymom from Alaska to sit in the oval office. Sadly he’s either putting politics before our safety and security or he’s gone nuts. Sad either way. McCain was once a good man. Now he’s made himself a joke.
Maybe the party of Lincoln needed this one final act of spectacular stupidity to finish its self destructive swan dive that started w/Reagan. Maybe after its over they can reinvent themselves and get back to true conservatism of the fiscal responsibility, smart and measured foreign policy and NOT pandering to whackjobs that want to use gov’t to meddle in my personal life.
Until then I’ll remain a staunch independent and sit back and watch McCain insult women, his party and his country in stunned disbelief.
August 29th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
First off im a huge John McCain supporter because he put his country first, but after this Palin choice it throws all of that out the window, McCain made this pick because Obama’s convention was just incredible so he’s using her to excite things up for the Republican convention. How in the world could John McCain pick Palin, he has always expressed experience but WTF how the hell could he pick a woman that if McCain dies she would take control of the United States, a woman who is the GOV of Alasaka, who the fuck gives a shit about Alaska they only have like 10,000 people there. I WILL NOT BE VOTING FOR McCAIN BECAUSE OF HIS VP PIC BECAUSE IT SHOWS THAT HE IS RECKLESS AND WILL NOT MAKE A GOOD COMMANDER AND CHEIF, HE ALREADY SCREWED UP HIS VP PIC FOR VOTES, IMAGINE IF HE IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. WOW BARACK OBAMA WAS RIGHT!
August 30th, 2008 at 8:21 am
I think Sarah Palin is a brilliant choice. As my 16 year-old son put it while she was making her speech in Ohio — “now I’m absolutely sure I don’t just hate Hillary because she’s a woman!” Palin is a smart, savvy, moose-hunting, pro-life, union member from Alaska with both an active duty soldier and a special needs child among her kids. Her husband is an indigenous Alaskan and world-champion snowmobile racer. Oh, and she was a beauty queen too? What’s not to like? Obama/Biden will find ways to attack her, but I’d pick the McCain/Palin team over Obama/Biden in a fair fight any day. I’m psyched!
August 30th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
PLEASE STOP talking about experience, Gov. Palin started in politics in 1992, Mr. Obama, 1997, there’s 5 years,,, Gov. Palin, yes mayor of small Alaskan town, 9,000 residents, Mr. Obama, community organizer (wow),,, enough said here also,,,, Gov. Palin, Governor of the largest (size wise) state of the union,,, Mr. Obama,, 180 days as a senator,,, zero legislation,,, zilch,,, none,,, zap,,, notta,,, nothing!!! Gov. Palin,, yep she made some enemies there,, standing up for what is right usually does make people mad,,, even in your own party!!!, Mr. Obama??? Well that is all we have heard about is his friends,,, Pastor Jeremiah Wright,,, (20 years with this nut case) and how about William Ayers & his companion (?) Bernadine Dohrn,,, These are the ones that we know about,,, hard to say about his contributors and friends we don’t know about!!! Moving on,,, Gov. Palin,, sells the governors private jet on eBay returns the money to the citizens of Alaska,,, Mr. Obama gets favors financing his house through Chicago businessman Antoin “Tony” Rezko, now convicted of 16 of the 24 charges of corruption against him…. Gov Palin running for the second chair,,, Mr. Obama running for the big chair…. CHANGE??? Yea there is change involved but it is not on the left,, especially with Mr. Biden in the second seat,,, Seems to me,,, Governor Palin has more experience and the change we need over Mr. Obama,,, 180 days as a senator,,, (hard to say how many of those days he was actually in the office) oh yea,,, community organizer (WOW)… How can the term ”CHANGE” even be used when second chair Biden has been in Washington since the early 70’s? What change is that? I think Gov. Palin not only has more experience,,, but more of the right stuff and ability,, if needed to step up to the first chair…. Than Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden!! (YES THE RIGHT STUFF DOES PLAY IN THE EQUATION!!!) If we are now electing our presidents based on the ability to make a good speech,,, maybe we should start recruiting from high school and college debate classes,,, we could get by,,, by paying them less too,,,, OH,,,,And by the way,,,, did we mention SHE WAS,,,,,,, CUTE???? May God Bless Senator John & Cindy McCain and Gov Sarah & Todd Palin,,, and may our God continue to Bless America !!! McCain & Palin 08 !!!