John McCain picked his VP today under a cloud of secrecy the likes of which seems impossible in today’s society. The speculation swirled around the “usual suspects”, men who were vanquished in the campaign and more men who seemed like good choices for vice president based on credentials of leadership. McCain surprised all of them, and all of us, by picking a running mate with all of those qualities, only in the body of a woman. Take that, Obie and Hill. Joe Biden was brought on as Obama’s running mate not only to lend some foreign policy experience to the ticket (since the Candidate himself has none), but also to serve as the crust on the bread of Obama. Biden was chomping at the bit, eager to attempt to eviscerate his male counterpart in any debates. He now faces a conundrum in that he must be gentle with the “lady”, at least if there is any modicum of consistency in how the main stream media views men attacking women. It was that very perception that shielded Hillary through much of her solo career, despite her auto-biographical image as tougher and smarter than anyone else.
The really good news is this, however; Sarah Palin brings much more to the plate than merely being McCain’s “beard”. She has much more to offer than simply neutralizing Biden. She’s smart, she’s tough, she’s self-made and she’s more of a man than most inside the Beltway, in a strictly colloquial sense, of course. And most important of all, she’s already more qualified on her own to be President than the Democrat’s nominee. Which is why there is such delicious irony in the attacks already emanating from Camp Obama.
That camp is, with straight faces, already saying that McCain’s pick is a bad one because Palin has only been the Governor of Alaska for two years. That’s two more years of executive experience than the combined Democrat ticket. Further, before being Governor, Palin was the Mayor of Wasilla, AK and was later elected as President of the Alaska Council of Mayors. It seems she knows a thing or two about being in charge. So for the Obama Camp to complain that McCain essentially put an inexperienced person a heartbeat away from the Presidency is more than feeble, it’s pathetic.
McCain has the edge over them all in foreign policy experience, and he’s the candidate for President, which would make the ticket properly top-heavy. The Democrat ticket more closely resembles Hillary Clinton’s figure, and the top man on that ticket is young enough to stick around for a full two terms. Maybe he’ll learn a bit on the job, but that would depend on how quick our enemies are to curtail his education.
Sarah Palin would be ready to take the reins if, God forbid, something were to happen to President McCain. The fact that she already has executive experience thus lends more balance to the Republican ticket than the bowling pin that is the Democrats’. And, as someone I know who is personally familiar with Ms. Palin said, she will tie Biden up in knots at the debates and stand him on his head in the corner. (Kudos, AK).
This campaign season just decked the halls and I am ready to party.
-Woody
