The Odd Couple: John McCain and Sarah Palin

John McCain sure looked tired during his acceptance speech last night. And I don't just mean the bags under his eyes or the lackluster delivery or how he couldn't wait to get off the stage. Cindy was beaming (an aside here: did you see how happy she was the night before holding baby Trig while mom gleefully blasted away at Obama, like he was so many caribou?) but McCain just looked sour. Talk about not enjoying the moment! He'd finally achieved his years-long quest to be the Republican nominee for president, but he was as deflated as a popped balloon.

Maybe McCain should start taking cues from Eckhart Tolle instead of Karl Rove?

He didn't have anything new to say, either, despite his baffling vow to end the bickering in Washington and work with those do-nothing Democrats to get things done for the American people. Like cut taxes for rich folks, make the middle-class pay for health care they can't afford now, spend billions more on defense, and drill, baby, drill! Now that's a breath of fresh Alaska air, isn't it?

Did McCain forget which party's been in charge the last eight years? (News flash: it starts with an R). A time during which the economy has tanked, we got mired in an expensive needless war, oil prices have skyrocketed, unemployment has soared and millions of Americans have lost their homes to shady loans. Not to mention the untold Iraq war vets who've returned home with PTSD or brain injuries or without their legs. Where was the maverick then? Sleeping in Sedona?

But that's all water under the Bridge to Nowhere, right? (Sorry, I couldn't resist.) And McCain told the nation that he wants to play nice now, to change the culture of Washington. He might want to run that by his running mate, whose take-no-prisoners approach to governing might not mesh well with that. Palin, who recently bragged to the New Yorker that she hasn't talked with the head of Alaska's Republican Party since she got elected governor, is actually proud of not getting along with other politicians! (I know I'm not supposed to mention the beauty pageant, but how did she ever win "Miss Congeniality?") They don't call her Sarah Barracuda for nothing. (Living in the lower 48 on one of those elitist coasts, I'm wondering if "Sarah The Great White" might be a better fit?)

Shortly after she became mayor of Wasilla, she fired most of the department heads, including the police chief who helped get her elected, which led to a brief recall effort. Later Palin tried to fire the town librarian when she wouldn't ban certain books the mayor deemed objectionable. But she backed off when people rallied against her. She didn't even back her own mother-in-law, a Democrat, when she ran for mayor after Palin was termed out. Nice!

She also parts with McCain on some pretty fundamental (fundamentalist?) issues. Like teaching creationism in the public schools, exceptions for abortion, global warming, and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. But perhaps the most striking difference is their approach to earmarks. He hates them, she loves them. In fact, as mayor of tiny Wasilla, Palin hired a private lobbyist and sucked $27 million from taxpayers in the lower 48 for her pet projects. (She also left Wasilla $20 million in debt. But no matter. There's oil under those polar bears. And a $30 billion gas pipeline that God is very into.) Some of those very same projects, strangely, were dinged by McCain.

Pretty cool for the hottest governor from the coolest state! As those buttons they were handing out at the convention trilled. Now that's not sexist, is it?

I know we're not supposed to mention her qualifications, or lack thereof, to be VP. Because that would be sexist. Speaking of Palin (though I do so at apparent professional risk since she has been declared off-limits to the media, unless it involves fawning over her ability to read a teleprompter and make a Harvard Law graduate, constitutional law scholar, accomplished senator, brilliant campaigner--a politician Carolyn Kennedy has famously likened to her beloved father and who actually writes his own speeches--sound like rotten moose stew), she certainly can smile pretty while lying through her teeth. (That plane she sold on Ebay? She didn't.)

Is this a skill she developed hopscotching from one of five or six colleges to the next, eventually earning a degree at the University of Idaho? Or later as governor, when she whipped the good 'ole boys in Alaskan politics? And got oil giant BP to sponsor her inaguration?

"I can't wait to show Sarah Palin around Washington!" McCain gushed during one of the few lively moments of his speech.

News flash: I don't think Sarah Barracuda needs a tour. But you guys should probably have a talk.

Follow Mona Gable on Twitter: www.twitter.com/monalg

Comments

[justsomeguywhocameby]

Reality based politics don't resonate with modern American media dominated consumers. We want to be fed the conclusion, not have to engage critical faculties. Our educational institutions and television and newspapers and radio and malls and Madison Ave. have changed us into consumers rather than citizens. We live in”1984”. What was once called “Orwellian” has now become “Roveiam”. More people vote for an American Idol winner than vote for a President. I may hate Rove for what he has done to this country but we must analyze these tactics and use the ones that are appropriate. The consumer wants an emotional attachment to his product. What con Obam/Bidden offer?

[linden]

Another observation. -- Why does this family seem to spurn higher education? I have three children who were all military officers, but first went to outstanding universities on ROTC scholarships. Frankly, I have a real bad feeling about that Palin family. Call it a gut reaction, but I think I'm on the mark.

[zanzig]

It's not just that family that spurns higher education is it? It seems to me that the Republican Party encourages that attitude, especially in lower income voters - a "keep them stupid so they will continue voting for us" meme. Clearly she fits into this demographic just nicely.

[Jon Raymond - Huffpost Blogger]

You forget, they need to attract people dumb enough to vote for McCain.

[loril]

Sure, the anti-intel­lectualism of the right drives me crazy (since they're always preaching to the rest of us about "pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps")

But why would you bother with that liberal-elite book larnin' if you could simply rake in a huge salary through crony-capitalism and Big Mama Barracuda's network? Track, or Truck or whatever his name is may be in Iraq for a bit...but unlike most vets, he'll return home to some plum situation (like Shrub) where he mostly drives in once a month to pick up his paycheck.

No worries about having to learn to do anything if you are part of this circle, believe me.

[TheIndependenceParty]

It's a "Family Values Thing". In Track's case he "chose" the military over lesser options as I have heard and

[JBS]

Often the military is a ticket out of the lower class; an opportunity to get money for college, experience that will help you get ahead later in life.

At least that's what the recruiter will tell you. You don't always get what you paid for.

Trust me on this, whether you get the benefits or not, YOU DO PAY FOR IT!

And it is effective because the working poor DO actually hold dear the values of patriotism and service that the plutocrats who own the political process exploit for personal, political and financial gain.

Maybe the kid DID choose the military over "lesser" options.

[Freesia2]

I have the same bad feeling. Putting her in office feels like part of a slide backward we can't afford. My gut reaction is a knot.

[isitover]

Sarah Palin may be off limits to some people but not to me. I am woman too. I want my kids to have values and christians (evangelicals) to act by the bible but not improvise. Reading a speech that is not your is easy and has no comparison to what Obama can do.

Stealing every line of a person you say is incompetent shows where exactly you stand . Duplicating a peson's idea used to be called plagiarism . Voting against a war that was never there in the first place is smart not unpatriotic. Acting as a change agent when you have been there comfortably for over thirty years is crazy . If Mcain is such arightous person with values and good judgement and not an opportunist . Why did he leave his first wife and marry a rich heiress ? Waht does the bible say about abandoning your spouse ?

A person with original idea is the one who brings it fruition not the one who hears about an idea then he wears the hate hat claiming those who support democrats are waitinng for hand outs . Sorry Maverick we independents, republicans and democrats do not want your inheritance.

We bust our butts we do not have $300000.00 to spend on a dress. With all that said the only handout we would like is you and Pit Bull getting a grip .

[Budoc]

She derides Obama for being wrong on vital national security issue like the Iraqi war, yet she was quoted as saying that she had not thought much about the war. She blatantly lies about Obama's record, yet the media continues to give her a free pass. The Republicans know that if you state a lie repeatedly, it eventually sticks. As a Christian Im embarrassed that many in the evangelical community would support this ticket.

[blackchaps]

She didn't win Miss Congeniality. That was another lie.

[cassidynj]

The "John and Sarah Show" is a very expensive pilot. Maybe we should wait for the spin-off -- "Sarah 2012."

[punkingale]

She actually didn't win Miss Congeniality. The woman who did has come forward.

[mbaker]

Same thought I've been having. If this ticket is not soundly trounced come election day,we'll be seeing far too much of that pitbull w/ lipstick in the future

[mosh]

She wouldn't last a second on the national stage if she weren't quarantined by the campaign.

[McCainWho]

John McCain wants to top his father and grandfather. See they were commanding Generals in major wars. The only way John McCain can top them is to be President and start his own war. John ambition for the oval office is just to start a war. He will not just be satified to cleanup Bush wars. He wants his own war with his name on it. Just look at his campaign logo – it has a Admiral Star on it. This Star is what he could not get in the Navy…

John McCain admitted last night in his Acceptance speech that he SOLD OUT AMERICA while a POW. Is this Country First? The media need to tell young voters what he meant when he said he Broke in the POW Camp. The young voters MUST BE TOLD the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth by the Media. Do not let John McCain get away with just a blank statement "I Broke under pressure".

[popecorvo]

When commenting on military records, it's a decided advantage to know the difference between a General and an Admiral, sport.

[rubinoff]

What we all need is a 'magic broom' (aka 'the vote) and sweep ALL the politicians out of DC...there are so many more decent and qualified people to protect our Constitution and country...­.Please don't tell me that we must continutally live in fear and keep bringing back the same old corrupt gang.....S­cat, be gone.

[ironictonic]

I am wondering why Sarah Palin has not been exposed as George W. Bush incarnate. i will go one step further and say that if 'W' and Cheney could have begotten an offspring, it would be Sarah Barracuda. The image of a young Cheney-like female with guns abazin' and sarcasm aflarin' combined with the shadow to the political profile of George W. Bush, eight years removed ( without the silver foot in mouth, of course), should run shills down the spines of those outside the Republican far right base.

There is no doubt why the convention's most dour and uninspired conservatives, representing the twenty-eight percent of Bush's approval ratring, went into a frenzy when introduced to Palin. Their hero was not even allowed to attend but his image and policies were reprised in the embodiment of a glib feminine package. As the excited and loyal crew of a flagging sinking ship cheered on their new first mate, their hopes were spurred by the specter that the mate could convince the new aged captain to steer the mother ship further into the froth of melting ice and oil on the weatherd wings of social intolerance. Better yet, replace him at the helm.

The tabloid news media has generally ignored this distinction in its concommitant scramble for red meat controversy and first impression praise of this neophyte and her compelling story.

Country first, my butt!

[maryyooch]

I totally agree with you. She IS full of sh*t!

[Hufferton]

That funny little old white/bald man with yeller teef and the hot Gov that is *all white* do make a very odd couple.

However, doncha know, she is so purdy and, well you knows, that usin’ white christian men juss caint hep but vote fur her and we done *told* “our women folk” to do the same, er else!

Tarnashin’ that broad dun kilt and skinnied a moose and us countree (first) folk can survive!

Palin is our Pal-in Alaska.

[Johnnn]

I think the Huffpost website is the best of it's kind in the whole internet.