McCain chose a political neophyte as his running mate
A.H. Jaffor Ullah
John McCain, the Republican presumptive nominee, just turned 72 right before the St. Paul convention, which is slated to open after the Labor Day. As far as Republican Party is concerned, all eyes were on Dayton, Ohio where McCain threw a party to announce his running mate.
Senator McCain surprised all the political pundits when he chose a political neophyte by the name Ms. Sarah Palin who happens to be the first term governor of Alaska, a solidly Republican state. The pundits are all baffled by the news because the Internet was abuzz with speculations pointing to either Governor Mitt Romney or Governor Tim Pawlenty, the governor of Minnesota as the obvious choice. But McCain surprised even his ardent supporters by choosing a person who has very little experience in politics.
Before becoming the governor of Alaska, Ms. Palin was a two-term mayor of Wasilla, a town with population of merely 6,500. So, what is she bringing in terms of national experiences as a politician? We all know that the position of vice presidency is very important and the person holding the post should be prepared to step into the highest position in a moment's notice. I have heard such comment as "being a VP is heartbeat away from becoming president." Therefore, the media will scrutinize Governor Palin severely to make sure that she is qualified enough to become the president in the event McCain is elected in November election and should he become incapacitated due to unforeseen events or physical ailments.
The adage "Morning shows the day" is very appropriate here. Senator McCain as the nominee of his party took the first decision and by all account it is not a very sound one. There were about half a dozen qualified candidates but he decided to select a very weak one when he chose Governor Palin to be his running mate.
The media scrutiny has already started to check what kind of person Governor Palin is. She is certainly young and photogenic. But some negativity has already started to emerge. She has an ethical issue to confront. Alaska lawmakers are investigating now to see whether Palin abused her executive power in firing a public safety commissioner of Alaska. Lawmakers now say they want to know whether Palin was mad at the commissioner for not firing an Alaska state trooper who went through a messy divorce and ongoing child custody battles with Palin's sister.
Many analysts who were caught dumbfounded by McCain's capricious decision are puzzled and they wanted to figure out why he chose a much younger and inexperience politician to be his running mate?
First, McCain wanted to lure women voters from Democratic side. He knows very well that many women supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton who are steadfastly refusing to vote for Obama-Biden ticket need a nudge to move to the Republican side. Therefore, as per McCain's infinite wisdom, by selecting a woman to run as his VP those disenchanted voters may now switch to vote for him and Ms. Palin. However, the Republican senator is yet to take into cognizance the fact that the Democrats have solidified their base and many of the disenchanted women have now returned to the base and they will support the Obama-Biden ticket.
From Obama campaign's perspective, it is an unexpected development indeed. By selecting Senator Joe Biden Senator Obama chose a seasoned politician who knows very well how the federal government runs, legislatively speaking of course. However, Senator McCain probably does not give a hoot to this important issue. If McCain gets elected by the stroke of his luck and something happens to him, the nation will be forced to have an inexperienced person as the president. This would be quite opposite if the same scenario plays out in the case of Obama presidency.
Does McCain want a loyal VP who will never ever question him concerning any decision? The same senator was very puzzled in 1988 when President George H. W. Bush chose another political neophyte by the name Dan Quayle of Indiana as his VP. Therefore, it seems as if Senator McCain has dual standards – one for himself and the other for others.
Please contrast the decision made by Senator McCain with that of Senator Obama over the issue of selecting the candidate for vice president. Obama wanted a partner who could challenge him over any decision. But McCain is following his predecessors from the Republican Party. George H.W. Bush chose Senator Dan Quayle who was simply there to fill the position. He was not an activist VP such as Al Gore. The same goes for Ronald Reagan who had an inactive VP by the name George H.W. Bush.
Let us now ponder over the age and experience of Governor Palin. In her early forty's she is only 3 year younger than Obama who served in her statehouse for 20 months. Obama, on the other hand, had served in his statehouse for eight years (1997-2004). Obama's experience as legislators covers both at state and federal level but Governor Palin mostly served at the municipal as mayor of small town and now she is serving as the governor of Alaska.
Ron Fournier, an Associated Press analyst, wrote an interesting article today (August 29, 2008) in which he mentioned that Senator McCain's "risky choice of Gov. Sarah Palin gives him a running mate who doubles down on his maverick image." He also added the following: (this choice) "may appeal to "hockey moms" and other women, and counters Barack Obama's aura of new-generation change. But he may have undercut his best attack on the Democrat."
The more is yet to come on Governor Palin's qualification to run for the office of VP. We hope she was vetted thoroughly. Any negativity concerning Governor Palin's candidacy that may surface later will ruin McCain chances to win the election. We should also wait and see how Governor Palin is sized up by her party's bigwigs.
Needless to say, we had two consecutive days of history making. Yesterday (August 28, 2008), Senator Obama had delivered a historic acceptance speech and today (August 29, 2008), Senator McCain announced that he chose a woman to be his running mate.
Lest we forget, this is the first time ever that any Republican presidential hopeful had selected a woman to be the VP. Conversely, Vice President Walter Mondale, a Democrat, chose Geraldine Ferraro, a Congresswoman from upstate New York to be his running mate in 1984.
It remains to be seen whether the selection of Governor Sarah Palin would handsomely reward Senator McCain who badly needs tens and thousands of disgruntled women voters, who once voted for Hillary Clinton in the primaries, flock to his side at least in the battleground states such as Ohio, Missouri, Virginia to help him win the election on November 4, 2008. Will it happen? Stay tuned for more developments and prognosis.
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Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from New Orleans, USA
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Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from New Orleans, USA
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