McCain cites need for experience, picks first-term governor as veep

[topaz]

Egad!  It's all over my friends page already.  Sarah Palin!  McCain picks Alaska governor to be his running mate!

Opinions are all over the map.  Myself, I think it was a very clever choice from a demographic point of view, and frankly a lot bolder than I would have expected from his campaign.  Apart from the simple fact that she's a woman, she's pro-life and has one child with Down syndrome; she's an evangelical, but not a Southern evangelical; she has Alaska credibility and supports drilling in ANWR.  She's almost tailor-made to draw back the moderate conservatives who have become disillusioned with the Republican Party in the last eight years.  Very shrewd indeed.

But my gut reaction says that it's a fatal mistake for McCain, who has been running almost exclusively on an "experience" platform for the last several months.  Choosing Palin pretty much annihilates that argument.  It seems to say that McCain no longer believes he can win experience, and is looking for a reverse wedge that he thinks will give him an advantage.

If that's the case, I think Obama and Biden have a clear path to victory.  They need to focus diligently but relentlessly on policy issues.  McCain and Palin are going to have an uphill battle persuading the public that they are a team prepared to lead the country, and that Palin will be ready to take over the top job if McCain keels over.  Unless Palin turns out to be a ringer on the debate box, I expect Biden to be able to eat her for dinner.

The game isn't over, not by a long shot --- but the McCain campaign just took a big fumble.

Comments

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

The vice president needs to be ready to take over at a moment's notice if something happens to the president. McCain's age makes that even more of an issue than it might be otherwise, and he knows that's on the voters' minds. Already I see both offices have put out press releases on the experience issue.

Without a doubt this will pull in some of the PUMAs. I daresay that was one of the primary objectives in choosing Palin. Will it turn the election? Frankly I don't think so. It will turn some of the most centrist Hillary supporters and some of the most bitter ones, but I don't think there will turn out to be enough there to make it work.

[innerdoggie.livejournal.com]

More than just his age, too. He's had more than one bout with melanoma. That isn't a trivial cancer like basal cell or something.

It's cool that it isn't stopping him from running like it would've 30 years ago, but it's still serious business.