There are already a gazillion Sarah Palin diaries up today, and this will most likely get lost in the shuffle, maybe I just need to put my reaction down into words so I will not forget this moment. I slept in this morning. I had a meeting last night, and did not get a chance to catch all of Obama's speech last night. So I stayed up and watched the replay and much of the replayed commentary from the talking heads. Plus I have this damn cold that won't go away. So I slept in, figuring that it was going to be Pawlenty. My wife came in about 8:30 with the news. Good thing I was already laying down...
To say I was stunned is something of an understatement. A couple days ago, in a frontpage diary titled "Stupid Republican VP tricks" someone brought up Palin's name and I had this to say:
You mean the Gov. of Alaska who is currently under investigation by the state legislature for trying to get her ex Brother-in-Law fired from the Highway Patrol? Yeah, she would be a great choice. Practically no experience, no name ID, and a juicy scandal already under investigation.
And Biden may have hair plugs and capped teeth, but he also has one of the sharpest intellects in the U.S. Senate. He also has a great personal story that will connect with the middle class americans. He would slice and dice Palin into tiny little pieces in a debate.
So I am trying to figure this VP pick out. Are republicans really so tone deaf that they think this is going to win over hoards of Hillary supporters? Have they been watching the last four days of the Democratic convention? Did they watch Hillary's speech?
Or is this a move to shore up the base? If that is the case, why not choose Huckabee, a candidate of considerable personal charm who went out of his way to say (mostly) nice things about John McCain during the primary.
Does John McCain really think that a young, completely inexperienced, first term Governer of a small rural state is going to help win him the White House? If so, why not pick Tim Pawlenty, who might just have an outside chance of helping him win 10 very important electral votes?
As the title of this diary implies I am completely baffeled by this pick. It kneecaps the "inexperience" attack against Obama. How can McCain even utter the word without the image of the totally unprepared and unqualified Palin coming to the mind of every voter?
I am waiting for the fallout, and I think it will be coming soon. Here are just a few questions I would like to see reporters ask Senator McCain:
How much time did you spend with Governer Palin before you made your selection?
Who vetted her, and did they make you aware of the investigation into the abuse of power charges surrounding her brother-in-law.
What was it about her resume that made her a more attractive candidate than say, Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty?
In the event you are elected in November, and subsequently unable to finish your term for whatever reason, do you really believe Sarah Palin is ready to be President of the United States?