Why Sarah Palin? It's the Base, Stupid

What if John McCain had chosen a white man with Sarah Palin's extremist views as his running mate? Instead of a week of media glee that the maverick was back, would the punditocracy have been forced to dwell on a more hard-headed analysis of the power of the radical Right in the GOP? Could this have been the reason for the Palin pick?

The Republican convention was the last remaining minefield for McCain to cross in his quest for the presidency. The convention was dominated by conservative delegates, who have publicly complained about his insufficient conservatism. But the majority of his audience in America's living rooms find the views of the GOP Right repugnant, disapprove of Bush, and think the country is headed in the wrong direction. Party politics demanded McCain get right with the Right. Simple arithmetic dictated that he win the votes of swing voters who want the Right out of power.

Despite the whining of the McCain campaign about unfair press coverage of Palin, McCain only averted the embarrassment of a nationally televised intraparty fight by abandoning his own preferences for a running mate and selecting Palin. As it has been widely reported here and in other places, McCain's top choices were two white men, Senator Joe Lieberman and Governor Tom Ridge. Both are pro-choice. Facing that prospect, the Right warned McCain, watch what we'll do to you if you choose that path. After all, many conservatives have been grumbling that perhaps a few years out of power would be just the right medicine for the ailing movement. McCain snapped to attention, turned on his heels, and with little vetting and less preparation, named Palin as the person most qualified to become next in line to be president of the United States.

McCain had until this moment of the campaign derided Senator Barack Obama for lacking the experience to be president. So why didn't McCain tap one of the many men with governing experience in the GOP's huge reservoir of social conservatives to win the hearts and votes of the Right?

Let me suggest that Republican strategists and McCain remember all too well the 1992 Republican convention. Then, another GOP so-called moderate, running for the presidency as the economy tanked, appeased the GOP right by turning his convention over to his rightwing critics. George H. W. Bush missed the mark with his selection of Dan Quayle. Conservatives were happy, but the press enjoyed the gaffes too much to play up the 'change' angle of Quayle's youth. Bush was helpless to counter the spectacle of the radical Right.

As we all saw from the convention, the base was ecstatic. "McBrilliant!" Rush Limbaugh declared in triumph after Sarah Palin's speech.

Folks, we have a future beyond November here. Regardless what happens. . . .

The convention has been unified on the basis of conservatism. Properly executed, beautifully articulated. . . .

"This lady has turned it all around. . . . From now on, on this program John McCain will be known as John McBrilliant.

McBrilliant indeed. At the moment when all the contradictions and reversals of John McCain's four year quest to succeed George W. Bush would be broadcast live from the Xcel Energy Center to a nation sick to death of GOP policies, the McCain campaign threw up enough distractions to survive the hazing.

If McCain had chosen a man with Sarah Palin's extremist views, I wager we would have heard a requiem for McCain the once-beloved maverick. Palin is not on the ticket to woo the millions of women who voted for Hillary Clinton. McCain's campaign chose her above all others to divert attention from his humiliating capitulation to the extreme Right of the Republican party.

Nancy Cohen is the author of The Reconstruction of American Liberalism, 1865-1914 and The Social History of the United States: The 1990s (forthcoming October 2008).

Comments

[JestMe]

I think you are onto it. There seems to be a BIG bunch of stupid out there and they can't understand reasonable thinking. It is a base of emotion, with very little intellect to balance it out. Stupid is as stupid does. We saw it with Bush. Look at what that got us in to.

[Paul64a]

The Dems should stick with the McCain=Bush narrative on policy, and start a new narrative McCain = political puppet of Rove/Limbaugh. Hit him on both fronts separately.

no new ideas & beholden to far right

[Doofus]

What if? Then probably only a few more voters of the
'masculine persuasion' would be tempted to vote for
McCain, and NO more of the other gender.

Do you suppose Sarah Palin would have any sort of role
in a McCain administration, other than baking brownies?

That is what a VP does, I believe.

[bartonfink]

and palin will be the engine of revival for the religious base of the GOP. already the voice of the right, talk radio, is gearing up to push palin/mccain to a 2ooo/2oo4 redux. limbaugh & co. enjoy a vast audience who don't give a damn about anyone but their own, and she is kool aid to them. I can't imagine what could happen to stop her. how terrible for our country. even if the dems win significant majorities in the house and senate, we'll still be stuck with george w. bush, this time in a skirt.

just awful

[Herrington]

Ahh, sweet reason. Picking Palin shows an unrepentant Republican party that seems to believe that their policies are right and we just did not do them hard enough. Like if you had prayed hard enough it would have rained out Obama in Denver.

The historic perspective is that they, just like the Democrats after Carter, have to reinvent themselves as the other party. Democrats become more Republican and Bill Clinton is the figurehead of that realization. It was just a reprieve though. Bush, W, went on to perfectly epitomize Republican rule complete with economy crippling concentration of wealth in the top 1% of Americans.

Now, faced with the fact that people no longer believe in the Republican brand and banner of every man for himself, McCain and a few stalwarts recognize the need for sobriety, but the rank and file are still hell bent on Reaganism and worse. Wisdom dictates that the political wind has changed, or will so change in the first term of a Palin administration, that there will be no resurrecting a Republican party.

Look no further than the populism of Huckabee. The writing is on the wall Republicans. In order to preserve even the idea that a Republican is not a joke, you must become more like Democrats. Don't complain, you brought it on yourselves.

[Aby]

Let's see if Rush Limbaugh thinks it's McBrilliant when the 3 AM phone call rings in Sarah Palin's office.

[phasechange]

So, who was the key player in making this decision? Rove seems to be saying it wasn't his choice, although that may be too convenient an answer in case she tanks. McCain doesn't seem to have the steam to have made the choice himself. Who actually gets the credit for the sale?

[robeson]

How many times must one win the dumb vote? This is strength?

[bwilder]

Yup, Yup, it is the base stupid. Stupid being the key word here.

[ndolomar]

I do find it interesting that McCain, whose "maverick" label is what distances him from the base (presumably the die-hard Bush/Cheney/Rove guys who tout the pure Republican values), chooses a female version of himself -- another "maverick" -- to rally up the base that dislikes him because he's a "maverick."

[MPeter]

What kind of question is that? The base gave us W twice. Are these actions of a smart group of people? Haven't you turned on your TV and seen them zombified, drooling but still cheering for every lie and distortion McCain and Palin dish out? It is actually sad to watch.

[dp2]

I would have had infinitely more respect for his choice, had he selected Meg Whitman. I believe his choice was based in part on appealing to the base, the novelty, the lack of good judgement, and Republican pride.

Ruined the
Economy
Practiced partisan politics in congress, the courts, and the White House
Ultimately abandoned the hunt for Osama
Bin
Ladden to invade
Iraq
Couldn't find the weapons
Altered history
Now claim victory

Passed budgets with
Raises for themselves (3 times)
Ignored the rest of us
Destabilized the value of the dollar and spewwed
Empty rhetoric instead of real solutions

This IS the change I need . . . oops, "it's just my imagination, running away with me."