My first reaction was "Who?" Quickly followed by a "what the f...?" To steal the talking heads from gushing about Obama's speech John McCain attempted to throw a curve ball with Gov. Sarah Palin from Alaska.
If his goal was to confuse the shit out of everyone -- mission accomplished!
I get the feeling the McCain campaign made this decision in the wee hours after Obama's speech. After all, the news was supposed to leak at midnight, but it didn't, signaling that the closing of the Democratic National Convention was THAT GOOD. Apparently the spectacle and revelry was not "too much" and "arrogant." Apparently it set just nicely with folks as the awe inspiring rah-rah, "Go, Speed Racer Go!" vibe the Dems wanted.
The Palin pick smells like fear. Fear that the unity of the Clintonistas and the Obama-ites after all that feel good Stevie Wonder backed lovin' could bolster the Obama-Biden ticket to the top. Palin is a Trojan horse meant to sway disgruntled feminist Democrats and lure them to the Republican ticket. And people joked that Biden was an "Affirmative Action" pick -- Palin is like an Evangelical Geraldine Ferraro with an NRA membership, a first time governor who's only in her second year and under investigation according to CNN.
I realize that some Republican players are attempting to spin this WTF into a good thing (She has two whole years of executive experience! She's a social and fiscal conservative! Joe Biden can't slap down a woman in a debate without looking like an asshole!), but she's the governor of Alaska. How many votes in the electoral college does that pull? The Obama campaign is actually "pleased" with the pick as they feel the experience argument is now off the table now that McCain has picked a relatively unknown, not vetted 44-year-old.
On CNN the talking heads are arguing that this pick shows that McCain wants to be seen as the "real" agent of change by this wild card pick. Reporters Suzanne Malveaux and Gloria Borger are reporting that some Republicans are scratching their heads. I think John McCain started dippin' into The Crazy, whippin' out the Maverick card.
Ultimately, people don't pick their president because of their veep selection, but just as it was odd that George "Poppy" Bush picked the dimwitted Dan Quayle to be within a heartbeat of the presidency, McCain, who turned 72 today, has strangely picked an unknown out of fear of the successful public relations coup that was the Democratic National Convention.
Smart move to distract the press and get them to stop cooing about Obama's speech, poor move for the future. If he wanted to pick a woman he should have picked the former head of Hewlett-Packard, Carly Fiorina, Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson or Sen. Elizabeth Dole or ANYONE that people have actually heard of. (Fiorina was so effective as a surrogate she was able to tote views I didn't agree with yet I still enjoyed listening to her.)
Is this woman the future of the Republican Party? Is this someone they're going to rally around for president if McCain wins and decides to be a one-termer? Is she prepared to be the leader of the free world if McCain pulls a William Henry Harrison? And is this to generate some excitement? According to CNN, the McCain campaign had to bus people in from out of town because they couldn't wrangle 10,000 in Dayton for this announcement. He had Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney there with him, but obviously flenched when Obama painted him as old, staid and out-of-touch.
But out of all this ridiculousness, I'm mostly disappointed that he did not pick my boy "Perfect Hair" Mitt Romney, aka "Guy Smiley" from The Muppet Show. I'm just distraught. No one worked insincerity like Mitt Romney. Every word he uttered sounded like the crowing of a used car salesman.
What will I do? Who will I make fun of? Damn you, Sarah Palin! Damn you!
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