McCain's VP Choices
McCain has plenty to choose from when it comes to VP. There will be a battle between who he is comfortable with and wants to pick (Lindsay Graham, Lieberman, etc.) and who his advisors will want him to pick (Huckabee, Romney, Jindal, etc.).
I think the most intriguing pick would be Alaska governor Sarah Palin. She's young, attractive, popular in her state (not that Alaska is a swing state), pro-life, mother of five, and of course female. If Obama ends up picking a male running mate, Palin could give those angry Hillary supporters a reason to vote for McCain, despite the fact that Palin won't stop McCain from overturning Roe and fucking us over for the next generation.
The downsides to Palin, at least from McCain's view? He doesn't know her, he doesn't view women as his equals, she just gave birth one month ago and may not be able to dedicate herself full time to campaigning, she doesn't really put any new states into play, and she has zero foreign policy experience.
I think it would be a fairly good choice for McCain overall, especially if Obama picks a male running mate. I hate acknowledging these identity issues, but they are real. It would only take a small percentage of women to vote for the McCain/Palin ticket to hurt Obama's chances, and I think it unlikely that many men would vote AGAINST the McCain/Palin ticket because there is a woman on it. As we saw with Hillary Clinton, being female is generally a net positive when it comes to actual votes.
For this reason, I would strongly advise the Obama campaign to not choose a VP until after McCain makes his pick. Then they can perform some electoral jujistu and adjust accordingly. If McCain winds up picking the safe and easy choice, like Gov. Pawlenty or Romney, then Obama will have an easy job of it. If McCain picks Palin, Obama will have to get creative.
I'd like to see Obama pick a female VP anyway (Claire McCaskill is my fav), but this would make it even more important. That said, I don't have any problem with Obama picking a male VP if that person is the best qualified for the job. Even more than McCain, Obama has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to his VP options.
I think the most intriguing pick would be Alaska governor Sarah Palin. She's young, attractive, popular in her state (not that Alaska is a swing state), pro-life, mother of five, and of course female. If Obama ends up picking a male running mate, Palin could give those angry Hillary supporters a reason to vote for McCain, despite the fact that Palin won't stop McCain from overturning Roe and fucking us over for the next generation.
The downsides to Palin, at least from McCain's view? He doesn't know her, he doesn't view women as his equals, she just gave birth one month ago and may not be able to dedicate herself full time to campaigning, she doesn't really put any new states into play, and she has zero foreign policy experience.
I think it would be a fairly good choice for McCain overall, especially if Obama picks a male running mate. I hate acknowledging these identity issues, but they are real. It would only take a small percentage of women to vote for the McCain/Palin ticket to hurt Obama's chances, and I think it unlikely that many men would vote AGAINST the McCain/Palin ticket because there is a woman on it. As we saw with Hillary Clinton, being female is generally a net positive when it comes to actual votes.
For this reason, I would strongly advise the Obama campaign to not choose a VP until after McCain makes his pick. Then they can perform some electoral jujistu and adjust accordingly. If McCain winds up picking the safe and easy choice, like Gov. Pawlenty or Romney, then Obama will have an easy job of it. If McCain picks Palin, Obama will have to get creative.
I'd like to see Obama pick a female VP anyway (Claire McCaskill is my fav), but this would make it even more important. That said, I don't have any problem with Obama picking a male VP if that person is the best qualified for the job. Even more than McCain, Obama has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to his VP options.
posted by Existenz | 10:56 AM
2 Comments:
Gov Sarah Palin -- the only VP if McCain wants to win!
And, after watching both McCain's and Obama's speeches on TV Tuesday night, McCain no less than NEEDS to run Alaska Gov Sarah Palin as his VP mate.
Post a Comment
<< Home