Hurricane Sarah
John McCain is having a rough go of things lately. I mean the guy can't catch a break. I almost feel sorry for him.
Almost.
First Hurricane Gustav forced a hasty scaling back of the Republican festivities in St. Paul, Minnesota. Then Hurricane Sarah created another storm.
Governor Palin probably looked good on paper as the McCain team sketched out strategies in some dark room. But in harsh glare of reality, his decision looks rash and poorly thought out. He can't help but be having buyer's remorse right about now.
His choice seems to be a naked attempt to appeal to disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters. Except Sarah Palin is no Hillary. Who thought this fundamentalist right winger would appeal to Clinton's constituency? While she may shore up McCain's soft support amongst the Conservative Christian right, Palin will serve only to alarm moderate voters once they get a closer look.
In addition, she brings several liabilities: an abuse of power investigation over allegations concerning the firing of her sister's ex-husband, her support for the teaching of creationism in the public schools, and extreme right-wing views on a number of important social issues.
Her political resume (or lack thereof) serves to take away one of the Republicans' key attack points against Barack Obama: his relative lack of experience. Despite the McCain campaign's trumpeting of her "executive experience," the truth is, this so-called experience is limited to filling the office of mayor of a town with a population of 9,000 and serving as Governer for a year and a half in one of the least populous states in the country.
In my field this is called padding the resume.
While the Democrats may choose not to attack her lack of qualifications, they will come in handy deflecting any complaints about Obama's level of experience.
You've got to wonder about the people vetting the candidates for McCain. If this is evidence of his team's competency, I'd say he's got some serious problems ahead.
Almost.
First Hurricane Gustav forced a hasty scaling back of the Republican festivities in St. Paul, Minnesota. Then Hurricane Sarah created another storm.
Governor Palin probably looked good on paper as the McCain team sketched out strategies in some dark room. But in harsh glare of reality, his decision looks rash and poorly thought out. He can't help but be having buyer's remorse right about now.
His choice seems to be a naked attempt to appeal to disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters. Except Sarah Palin is no Hillary. Who thought this fundamentalist right winger would appeal to Clinton's constituency? While she may shore up McCain's soft support amongst the Conservative Christian right, Palin will serve only to alarm moderate voters once they get a closer look.
In addition, she brings several liabilities: an abuse of power investigation over allegations concerning the firing of her sister's ex-husband, her support for the teaching of creationism in the public schools, and extreme right-wing views on a number of important social issues.
Her political resume (or lack thereof) serves to take away one of the Republicans' key attack points against Barack Obama: his relative lack of experience. Despite the McCain campaign's trumpeting of her "executive experience," the truth is, this so-called experience is limited to filling the office of mayor of a town with a population of 9,000 and serving as Governer for a year and a half in one of the least populous states in the country.
In my field this is called padding the resume.
While the Democrats may choose not to attack her lack of qualifications, they will come in handy deflecting any complaints about Obama's level of experience.
You've got to wonder about the people vetting the candidates for McCain. If this is evidence of his team's competency, I'd say he's got some serious problems ahead.
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