What the Palin pick says about McCain

It seems to me that there are several damning things revealed about McCain in his choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate.  First and foremost, despite having had six months in which to evaluate the potential candidates and vet them thoroughly, in the end McCain made an impulsive and rushed decision, apparently dictated solely by immediate (and superficial) political calculus and a desire to create buzz.  There is nothing in the pick that remotely resembles McCain's admonition to "put country first."  Indeed it appears that McCain's true preference in a running mate was Lieberman, but he lacked the political courage to stand up to the right wingers on this. 

The second thing that leaps to mind is McCain's impetuousness* in making this call.  He literally does not know this women.  It appears that he met her twice.  The notion that one would opt for an individual with as thin a resume as Palin without really knowing her indicates a contempt for the idea of thinking about tomorrow, about the practical realities of governance, and about one's own possible mortality as a 72-year old cancer survivor. 

Third, it shows McCain's complete and utter contempt for women as political beings.  He appears to be saying: You didn't get Hillary and you're disappointed -- completely understandable.  So we'll give you a woman whose only characteristic in common with Hillary is certain body parts -- there, there, that should make you happy.  Only someone as bitter as Geraldine Ferraro could possibly find this offer appealing.

This needs to be a big part of the way that the Palin selection is attacked, in addition to making clear that she is a right wing extremist.  

Amazingly, the Washington Post** ran an article today that appears to have been virtually dictated by the McCain campaign, making the case for the careful vetting that Palin went through.  Inexplicably, almost everything in the entire article is anonymously sourced.  Why journalists allow themselves to be used in such a transparent fashion remains a mystery to me.

* I have approvingly linked to a Joe Klein column -- anything is in fact possible.         

**Speaking of the Post, have I mentioned before that David Broder is an incredible asshole who is totally in the tank for McCain?

Comments

[ari]

Klein really seems to be convinced that McCain is a danger to this country. As you say, even stopped clocks are right twice a day.

[Corvus9]

Linking approvingly to Joe Klein is now perfectly acceptable. Ezra even did a post about how awesome he has been lately. And it's true. All of his posts have been pretty awesome lately. There was one post of his which basically savaged the whole villager mentality and how it let people get away with things, and one of the other Swampers did a short post that was basically just going "whoah."

I don't think it's that Klein is a stopped clock. It's more like he's a clock that got recalibrated, and now that he knows what time it is, he is pissed. Because the motherfuckers have been lying to him.

I mean, seriously, the guy took on Commentary. That deserves legitimate praise.

[Andrew]

And as for David Broder....

Broder is an Eisenhower Republican, who loves to think that nasty partisanship should be done away with, in favor of sensible solutions by serious people. He is an inveterate defender of the rights and privileges of the Village. Joe Lieberman is his model Democrat.

[Joe Klein's conscience]

Corvus9:
In that vein, I don't get how Commentary can support Palin in good conscience. She supported Pat Buchanan in 2000 after all.

[Joe Klein's conscience]

Andrew:
I wonder what Broder would say about this:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/08/31/lieberman-2006-i-will-help-obama-reach-to-the-stars/

[Corvus9]

JK's c, I think the key to your paradox is that Commentary doesn't act in good conscience. Most Neo-conservatives don't* (see: Kristol, William). McCain must beat Obama, for the good of Likud. I mean Israel. So Palin is great. Also, they probably think that Palin is a lightweight that they would be able to mold to their needs once in office, considering the neo-con framework that would follow McCain into office. Supporting Buchanan is probably seen as just a young moron's lark.

Or, shit, maybe she's assured them that she will play ball. I don't know.

*Well, at least the idealogues don't. There's also just the frothing mad psychos like McCain and Guiliani, who I don't think know they are saying things that aren't true in the way, say, Jamie Kirchick does.

[MR Bill]

Broder has made me froth at the mouth two days running.
I must stop reading him, as he's clearly so in the tank for McCain and cannot possibly accept that the Dems policy concerns are valid...

[MR Bill]

Of course, we have hope, William Kristol thinks Palin is a great great bold choice...
"The Palin pick already, as Noemie Emery wrote, “Wipes out the image of McCain as the crotchety elder and brings back that of the fly-boy and gambler, which is much more appealing, and the genuine person.” But of course McCain needs Palin to do well to prove he’s a shrewd and prescient gambler.

I spent an afternoon with Palin a little over a year ago in Juneau, and have followed her career pretty closely ever since. I think she can pull it off. I’m not the only one. The day after the V.P. announcement, I spoke with an old friend, James Muller, chairman of the political science department at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. He said that Palin “has been underestimated over and over again. She took on the party and state establishments here in Alaska, and left them reeling. She’s a very good campaigner, a quick study and a fighter.”

Muller called particular attention to her successes in passing an increase to the oil production tax and facilitating the future construction of a huge natural gas pipeline. “At first the oil companies thought she was naïve, and they’d have their way. Instead she faced them down and forced them to compromise on her terms.""
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/01/opinion/01kristol.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin
Given Kristol's record, I have great hope..

[Sir Charles]

I'd like to think that J. Klein's seeming rejection of the "villager" mentality has something to do with the drubbing he's received from the lefty blogosphere. His initial reaction seemed to be bitterness and contempt, but it does appear that a certain amount of self-reexamination followed that.

Good for him. He's a smart guy (just not as smart as he thinks) and a good writer.

As Ezra said to me one day, he also deserves kudos for being willing to have a comment section at Swampland.

[KathyF]

If Obama had picked Sebelius do you think Ferraro would have been happy with that? Or would that only have made her more bitter? Are only certain ovaries acceptable in certain cases?

[Sir Charles]

Kathy,

I believe that Obama could not make Ferraro happy under any circumstances at this point. She's really become an ugly soul in this campaign.