The Political Voices of Women

Josh Marshall is reporting that the McCain campaign did almost no vetting of Palin before selecting her as his running mate. Okay, seriously. What kind of presidential candidate behaves this way? Palin’s “Troopergate” story had been covered by TPM for weeks so it shouldn’t be a new story to most people in political circles. We hear time and time again that McCain is a “maverick,” but perhaps it’s time to talk about this truthfully. John McCain is impulsive and erratic. Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter called John McCain and his campaign this nearly a month ago:

The list of troubling portents is growing long: repeated campaign staff upheavals reflecting poor management skills; abrupt reversals on big issues like tax cuts and relations with Russia (where he was superhawk one day and superdove the next); shameless pandering on a gas-tax holiday that even his own economic advisers think is a joke; confused handling of Social Security that annoys all sides of the debate; bogus charges (e.g., Obama is causing high gas prices, Obama didn’t visit wounded soldiers because he couldn’t take the press) that undermine his integrity; and an angry, bunker mentality among aides that one GOP operative, fearing excommunication from Team McCain if identified, describes as “lacking only a Luger and a cyanide pill.”

And his selection of Sarah Palin, who we can all agree is a skillful and likable politician, but a politician who has no foreign policy experience and what looks to be an ethics problem, confirms McCain’s penchant for making impulsive and erratic decisions. It is widely acknowledged that McCain wanted Lieberman or Ridge to be his selection for vice president, but after his campaign aides convinced him that he needed a “pro-life” candidate, he picked Palin after speaking to her once (or maybe twice) and without submitting her to a full vetting process. Steve Benen expresses the bewilderment and concern many of us feel about John McCain’s decision making:

Palin’s qualifications are, to a very real degree, secondary to the issue at hand. What matters most right now is John McCain’s comically dangerous sense of judgment. He picked a running mate he met once for 15 minutes, who’s been the governor of a small state for a year and a half, and who is in the midst of an abuse-of-power investigation in which she appears to have lied rather blatantly. She has no obvious expertise in any area, and no record of any kind of federal issues. McCain doesn’t care.

Sensible people of sound mind and character simply don’t do things like this. Leaders don’t do things like this. It’s the height of arrogance. It’s manifestly unserious. It’s reckless and irresponsible. It mocks the political process. Faced with a major presidential test, McCain thought it wise to tell an imprudent joke of lasting consequence.

A president with impulse problems could result in serious consequences for the country. McCain’s first impulse is often dangerous. Asked about dealing with Iran’s nuclear program, McCain actually sang
“Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.” The Russia-George conflict? A chance to restart the Cold War. An energy crisis? Domestic drilling. And now, forced to make a second pick for vice president–Sarah Palin.

My little sister is still serving in Iraq and I don’t want her commander in chief to be someone who “shoots from the hip” with her life. McCain is a maverick no more. He’s shown a reckless streak that could be dangerous to the country. In selecting Palin, McCain has definitely not put our country first.