McSame's McVeep: A Token of His Esteem...

John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin for vice president says more about the character of the man at the top of the ticket than it does about the woman in the number two spot.

His lust for power overrides both his common sense and his Country First meme.

A candidate who is a veteran of more than two decades on Capitol Hill and is a career-long member of the Republican Party certainly knows where the talent and capability lie within his own ranks. McCain could have chosen Olympia Snowe or Christine Todd-Whitman or Kay Bailey Hutchison as a running mate. He could have chosen any one of these women and made the case that, should he succumb to yet another recurrence of melanoma, his second-in-command would be qualified to serve as POTUS. On day one.

But he didn't.

I won't waste words parodying Sarah Palin, although the cheap shot is mighty tempting. I've seen the dismissive jetsam and flotsam online, the Vogue shots, the references to "the beauty queen". It's tasteless and counterproductive. I've seen the photo of Palin scantily clad with cleavage down-to-there and a tight skirt up-to-here and shoes that would do credit to any madame's paid escort. I won't Palin-bash over that picture, either. If I had a body like Sarah Palin, honey, I'd strut my stuff in private and have one very happy husband.

I won't list the ways this poor woman is tragically underqualified for such high office in unimaginably tough, dangerous times. Plenty of bloggers and reporters are doing that chore. I won't write a scenario of what might happen in the White House, at 3:00 a.m., should old John need hospitalization and Sarah Palin answers the damned red phone. Nor will I concoct a scene where VP Palin actually tries to tell "Stormy" McCain he's wrong about something.

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I won't yell and scream (although really, really I want to) about a Veep -- that heartbeat away from the Oval Office Veep -- who believes her feminist sisters should be denied the choice to terminate a pregnancy even in the case of rape. Or incest.

I won't publicly agonize over her love affair with weapons and big oil drilling-for-dollars, her denial of human responsibility for global warming, for her blind refusal to recognize that the endangered polar bear is the canary in the coal mine. I won't rant about her unbelievable affinity for Pat Buchanan and Ted Stevens. Or over her pending problems with the Alaskan legislature about abuse of power (God knows we've gotten used to that dynamic in the White House).

I won't launch into a tantrum because John McCain only met the woman one time, choosing a running mate he clearly did not, and does not, really know.

And I won't hate her because she's beautiful. Although that's a tough call for an old warhorse my age.

I won't. Because none of that matters as much as this simple, terrible fact:

There is something seriously off-kilter about John McCain. We all know his history with women's rights is, to put it kindly, unenlightened. We all know his treatment of the women in his own life, from infidelity and desertion to Miss Buffalo Chip, is mighty tawdry. That's his personal life. Unsavory as his behavior has been, a good, Clintonian argument can be made that a lack of character (and of respect for his wives) in his personal life does not disqualify him for the presidency.

But this time John McCain's tin ear for -- and lack of commitment to -- the true worth of women invades the public sphere. This is serious business. The man had choices here. There are experienced, qualified Republican women. He refused to choose one of them and, in doing so, his contempt for women is showing like a dingy, oversized slip beneath a mini-skirt. He has made a joke of every highly qualified woman's right to climb to the top of the ladder. He's made a mockery of the vice presidency in the process. And he's risking the security of the nation he swears only war hero McCain has the judgment to lead.

Sarah Palin is, very likely, a nice enough woman. But she's no Hillary Clinton; she's the anti-Clinton. John McCain has cynically trivialized Ms. Palin as a token candidate. This is an ill-conceived maneuver, pandering to American women he clearly believes are so lame-brained that we can be fooled by tokenism. It's downright abusive. It typifies the mindset of a man who simply doesn't get it. Not about smart women and not about national security.

We're not stupid, Senator McCain. We don't want any woman who says yes on either ticket. We want the best woman for the job.

Comments

[rjmiller]

Sorry, but Snowe and Hutchison couldn't be chosen as VP because the republican party is too scared to lose any more senate seats.

[NotMcCain]

I agree. This shows McCain's judgment--and it's terrible (and, for women, insulting. You don't break the glass ceiling with the least qualified promotee you can find. That diminishes everyone).

I -do- question whether she's a nice person. What mother, faced with questions about the parentage of her newborn, outs her teenage daughter as unwed and pregnant?

Most girls in that situation leave high school for a while (as Bristol has apparently been doing for many months) to avoid embarrassment and gossip.

Now, thanks to her mother, she's being talked about and judged all over America.

I don't see how floating THIS rumor (Bristol's pregnancy hasn't been confirmed by anyone and is at a stage where she could be pregnant OR still have a little weight gain from a previous pregnancy) answers the question about PALIN and TRIG.

And I find it very ODD that this is the way she chose to answer it--basically by throwing her daughter to the wolves of public opinion. Why not just have PALIN'S ob/gyn have a press conference and confirm the birth?

This is very strange and doesn't add up. Lies and more lies is all I see here.

[ButterflyWeed]

I'm all for transparency in Government, but really, John shoulda pulled the shades on this one. A malleable inroad to ANWAR drilling that won't talk back - bet his locker room buds are having hoots 'n hollers over this conquest.

[NoDrama]

With no national experience and virtually no evidence of foreign policy expertise, I find it incredible that McCain would pander to female voters and select somebody who is not even close to ready to step in if something should befall the President. If Obama's legislative experience and international background coupled with time in the U.S. Senate were considered inadequate by McCain and/or his advisors, how are we to accept a self-proclaimed hockey mom as a potential Commander in Chief?

Judgment? Choosing Palin is naked, pandering hypocrisy. We tried a pretty face with George Bush, voters expect and deserve more this time.

The claims she's fought big oil ring hollow since she's in favor of drilling in one of the most environmentally sensitive areas of her home state.

McCain may have had it goin' on in 2000, but we're not ready for this sort of gamble when the international situation is as complex as it is. It's a shame he's so desperate to convince people he's not a sexist that he had to pick a pretty woman to drive home the point.

[MidMo]

Linda,
PANDERING and sexist came to my mind. This was a well done piece.

John you should have never left your first home, Washington, for the fresh face in the North. Think you would have learned your lesson by now.

"My marriage's collapse was attributable to my own selfishness and immaturity. The blame was entirely mine ( "McCain's broken marriage and fractured Reagan friendship"- La TIMEs - 7/11/08)."

Come November 5 you will.

[luckismine]

I couldn't agree more, Linda. John McCain is a man who finds 50% of the population to be interchangeable, replaceable, convenient, dismissible and disposable. Though I'm sure if you asked him about it, he would remind you that he was a POW for five and a half years...

[glorysong]

What's next?

[S1m0n]

The sad thing about this is that Palin probably *is* smarter than John McCain.

[magen]

This VP pick should be insulting to ALL Americans regardless of sex, or political affiliation.

[Diplomacy]

Excellent article!

I, too, won't comment on Ms. Palin. But, I will say this VP selection for the "Grand OLD Party" ticket says a whole lot about the man at the "top of the ticket". His pandering is beyond belief.

It is hard to believe that it's only been 3 days since this woman was named McCain's VP choice and already it's CHAOS, a disgrace & an insult to all women.

Was this woman vetted?

Signed: 58-year-old woman with 3 daughters with 6 grandchildren

[thecanadian]

McCains 100% lack of judgement is absolutely scary! What is even scarier, the Repugs are backing him. The Repubs/McCain first - Country and Americans a clear second!

[jcscown]

I am dizzy. I didn't think he was that careless, not reckless...careless. His half-baked alaska is a gooey mess. Have you seen the AIP membership stuff....oh my.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/1/4231/18477/878/581881