If Panderous Isn’t A Word, It Should Be

Senator McCain has picked Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.

This strikes me as incredibly panderous, for one thing. It is as if he’s saying “See? She’s a woman! This way, you can vote for our side of the ticket and still make history!” This ignores, of course, Palin’s single term of experience as Alaska’s governor. It boggles the mind that John McCain — someone who cannot say enough about Senator Obama’s inexperience relative to his own 22 years in the Senate — would choose someone with only two years of elected state-level office* as a running mate. Say what you will about Senator Obama being yet too green to lead this nation, but who can honestly be comforted the thought of Governor Palin being a mere heartbeat away from the highest office in the land?

But enough of this mature conjecture. What I really want to know is this: Does Governor Palin, hunting and fishing enthusiastic that she is, know about that one particular time when Senator McCain told his wife Cindy exactly what he was thinking? And if she doesn’t know now, how will Palin respond when she finds out?

* – Also, she was elected mayor of Wassilla (Population: 8,471) in 1996, surely a beacon of Alaskan commerce and industry.

And another thing …

From the BBC:

She is also head of the Alaska National Guard which demonstrates, Mr McCain’s campaign said, that she “understands what it takes to lead our nation”.

Obviously.

August 29, 2008 – 12:03 pm | By Thomas | Posted in Politics, Videos | Comments (5)
  • Janice

    Funny video.

    I made a tweet earlier that called her a soccer mom. After some internet research I can amend that. She’s a gun-toting, homophobic soccer mom.

  • http://blog.garrettvonk.com Garrett Vonk

    So… Because Palin is a woman, McCain couldn’t possibly have considered her ability or her character? How is that different from saying that your boss just got his job because he is black? (for example)

  • http://www.grabbingsand.org/wordpress/ Thomas

    No, Garrett …

    I question this because Palin is a one-term Governor of a state with almost 2 million fewer inhabitants than Chicago. The fact that this Governor is only two years into the term is just a matter of numbers, but seeing as the McCain camp is all about tallying up just how many years their Senator has spent in office (22) or in captivity (5.5), perhaps it is only fair to consider the empirical.

    I question this because Palin’s prior experience was serving as Mayor of a town that is considered small even in Alaska. And before that, she was involved in commercial fishing and was a sports caster.

    Perhaps there is a vast store of here-to-fore unreleased background information that will reveal a deep and abiding understanding of finance, law or international relations. Maybe that will be revealed soon.

    Character? No idea. All the news is saying right now is that she really digs moose burgers. And she is a proud mother of many children, one of them with Downs. Maybe we do need a vice president that is carnivorous and maternal, but I’d like to see a little more.

    But right now, we have a man who has campaigned on the value of tried experience over youthful enthusiasm, who has called his opponent a shallow celebrity with followers who can’t see beyond his pretty words, who has repeatedly insisted that his opponent is nowhere near ready to lead this country …

    And this man has chosen Governor Sarah Palin for his running mate.

    And frankly, yes, it looks a lot like pandering to me. Had he chosen Kay Bailey Hutchison, instead, the decision would make perfect sense. But with Palin, he has someone with almost no record, someone who can add some much-needed youth to his ticket, and who has been known on many occasions to soundbyte the kinds of things about abortion and oil-drilling that are easily digestible and require little critical thought.

    And yes, she is a woman, thus answering the “let’s make history” call from the Dems.

    So that’s what I see.

    A bunch o’ damn pandas, all in a ring.

  • http://blog.garrettvonk.com Garrett Vonk

    I wasn’t saying that I think she’s a good veep candidate. I was just saying that I don’t think it’s pandering just because she’s a woman. I understand your point, but for it to be an incredibly panderous decision, John McCain would have to think that she’s not a very good candidate on her own merits. Which I guess is exactly what you’re saying wrt his stance on inexperience.

  • http://www.alendalux.com Nikki

    It IS pandering because she is a woman. Period. She is not, actually, a very good candidate on her own merits – KBH, as Thomas points out, is actually a GREAT candidate. Joe Biden’s credentials eat hers for lunch based on a two minute evaluation, not to mention even spending time on it. It’s disgusting that McCain would put a woman of such poor credentials on the same pedestal upon which Hillary, who like her or not is qualified, or KBH might aspire to stand.