Friday, August 29, 2008

McCains VP Pick Sarah Palin--Some Of The 'Cons'

At a time when everyone is pointing out the 'pros' of McCain's pick of Sarah Palin to be his running mate, at The Corner, Ramesh Ponnuru points out some of the 'cons':

Inexperience. Palin has been governor for about two minutes. Thanks to McCain’s decision, Palin could be commander-in-chief next year. That may strike people as a reckless choice; it strikes me that way. And McCain's age raised the stakes on this issue.

As a political matter, it undercuts the case against Obama. Conservatives are pointing out that it is tricky for the Obama campaign to raise the issue of her inexperience given his own, and note that the presidency matters more than the vice-presidency. But that gets things backward. To the extent the experience, qualifications, and national-security arguments are taken off the table, Obama wins.

And it’s not just foreign policy. Palin has no experience dealing with national domestic issues, either. (On the other hand, as Kate O’Beirne just told me, we know that Palin will be ready for that 3 a.m. phone call: She’ll already be up with her baby.)

Tokenism. Can anyone say with a straight face that Palin would have gotten picked if she were a man?

Compatibility. It doesn’t seem as though McCain knows Palin well. Do we have much reason to think they would work well together?

Debates. Maybe, as Jonah said the other day, Biden will look like a bully going up against her—and maybe she’ll shine. But I can think of a lot of other picks who would have been lower-risk.

But more than any other pick McCain could have made, this one will make things interesting.

Crossposted at Soccer Dad

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2 comments:

Lady-Light said...

Ha. Well, ok-I'll give ya three minutes. She's a young-come-from-nowhere-politician, but she has been governor of Alaska for 2 years, and has done some good things while in office. She's as experienced as Obama is to be Commander in Chief - at least she has a kid who will be going to Iraq.
It's all in my post.
But you do have a point there: if she were a man, chances are she would not have been chosen (I was actually hoping for Joe Leiberman...)

Anonymous said...

She's got a decided worldview and character qualities that I look for in a national leader, and what decisions she has made have been impressive. Some knowledge, much wisdom. My pastor some years back gave a sermon on Gen. 15 and said something like if you understand this portion of scripture, you'll know more about the Middle East than those directly involved in the Oslo Accords (substitute Annapolis for today). We really do need change, just not the kind Obama offers. Genius pick.