McCain Picks Alaska's Palin as VP

John McCain has chosen Alaska's governor, Sarah Palin, to be his running mate in the 2008 general election. Ms. Palin is an extreme rightist – anti-choice, pro-gun, anti-evolution, and anti-civil rights for gays. She is a fine choice to shore up his popularity with the Neanderthal regressive branch of the Republican Party. She also has no business being one heart beat away from the Oval Office.

To say she lacks experience is not entirely accurate. She was mayor in her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska., population around 9,000. She also was a City Council member in the town and was chairwoman of Alaska's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which regulates oil and gas resources. So, there is a bit of a track record. The GOP claims that she is the only person on either main party's ticket that has executive experience, but the truth is, it's one thing to own a used car lot, and it's quite another to run Toyota.

She claims to be an anti-corruption reformer. "I was just your average hockey mom in Alaska" before getting involved in politics, she said. "When I found corruption there, I fought it hard and brought the offenders to account." At the same time, she is under investigation for misuse of her power. CNN reported, “she is under investigation for her firing of a state official, Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. She has been instructed to hand over documents and recordings of telephone conversations as part of the inquiry, which grew out of allegations that she sacked Monegan for refusing to fire her former brother-in-law from the state police. “ The former brother-in-law in question was involved in a nasty custody case.

Her addition to the ticket is yet another case of Mr. McCain dropping principles for political advantage, and a questionable advantage at that. Obviously, he is trying to curry favor with those Hillary Clinton supporters who still refuse to support Barack Obama. However, Mrs. Clinton is pro-choice, anti-gun, pro-Darwin and pro-equality for gays. It's a bit like expecting the women of the 1980s Labour Party in Britain to back Maggie Thatcher on the grounds of chromosomal identity.

When President Bush the Elder decided he needed to make a dramatic pick, he bungled badly in selecting the empty suit known as Dan Quayle. Ms. Palin, to the best of anyone's knowledge, doesn't spell potato with an “e” on the end. By the same token, though, there is no reason to believe she is qualified to be president, and her selection takes the only true argument that the GOP had against Senator Obama, lack of experience. One looks forward to the one-sided Vice-Presidential debate.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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