Why did McCain Pick This Woman Above All the Rest?

Sarah Palin isn't stupid. Her performance at the Republican convention was masterful. Evidently, after George W. Bush, Republicans think the American voter will buy anything. As for me, I simply find Palin's position on the veep ticket depressing.

The title of this post is the question readers over at my blog are asking. It's a good one, but there isn't any good answer to it; nothing that makes me, at least, feel any better. The GOP played the central casting role, something like they did with Bush. Yep, depressing.

The first woman involved since Geraldine Ferraro, going back almost 25 years, and all we're hearing from the pundits is that Biden has to be careful how he treats Sarah Palin. Don't want to sound too smart. How he has to talk about McCain, something I've said myself, letting Palin just yak-yak-yak, because he can't afford to be too hard on her. Turn on any channel from CNN to Fox to MSNBC, and the one thing you won't hear is how excited people are to see a debate of equals. That's because when McCain picked Palin that possibility went out the window.

A month ago, voters rated Palin as highly as they did McCain or his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, but after weeks of intensive coverage and several perceived missteps, the shine has diminished.

...In the new Post-ABC poll, Palin matches the Democratic vice presidential candidate, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., on empathy, one of McCain's clear deficits against Obama, while fewer than half of voters think she understands "complex issues."

Again, it's depressing.

Can you imagine pundits talking about how Joe Biden needed to be careful not to show off with, say, Hillary Clinton? How he should be gentlemanly, but be careful not to be condescending or sound arrogant or like a know it all. Can't upstage the female too badly now, boys. Not a chance. People would be saying that Biden better show up with his A game, because if he doesn't Clinton will clean his clock.

No matter what Palin does tonight, with the bar set low because of her own abysmal performances with Couric and elsewhere, the only goal she has is to stop the bleeding. Because no matter what she does tonight it's more than clear that after boosting McCain at first, she's now the dead weight that is helping weigh him down. On judgment, through the Palin pick, McCain looks pathetic at this point. Stop the bleeding, that's Palin's job tonight.

With Palin, many women (men too) are simply hoping she gets through the debate without making a fool of herself, and by association of gender ruin the chances of every other politically savvy professional woman who has been working for years to get a shot. Palin does for women in politics and serious issues like national security what the burlesque bimbo did for the baggy pants comic back in the day. They're necessary to distract and offer something good to look at, but can't offer much else. Or worse, the comic's punchline, which is what she's now become.

So, after all these years waiting to have a female on the national ticket again, we've got one, but she's not up to the task. Worse still, the man who represents the other side, our side, is expected to tip toe around her, because any remark half-way cutting or too smart could reduce her to a blithering idiot. No, strike that, she shows up that way. Poor Sarah.

No one is saying Sarah Palin can't reach the bar set for her, which is at ground level. Or that she isn't beautiful and charming, as well as being a savvy politician who can swallow certain talking points for the short-term, while having no foundational base of issue knowledge to which she can draw upon later. But vice president? ...or God forbid, president? We've now reached the point, going backwards, where looking the part is all you need, especially for women. It's very depressing.

Taylor Marsh is a political analyst who's been seen on CNN and MSNBC, talk radio personality, and author. Twittering daily.

Comments

[Floridaborn]

Why this woman? Because this woman IS the true American Woman. She embodies what 90% of the women in this country experience everyday. - she is me, she is all of my friends, my kids teachers, my fellow church-members and my fellow neighbors. She is simply real.

[justhope]

You cannot be serious! With all due respect, this woman (me) or my conservative and progressive friends do not fee that Palin embodies us, women who are substantive, intellectual with a zest and zeal for knowledge. In context we can tell which papers we read everyday and remember what we derived from each. Palin clearly doesn't cut it! Factually polls show that Palin doesn't embody the everyday woman with a brain albeit she may be popular amongst moose hunters. I want someone with judgment, a cache of knowledge, a breadth and depth of understanding and applying substance that gives me a sense of comfort if she has to represent me on the world stage and do it without the silly nervous smirk. Last night wasn't a debate; it was a pageant recital of regurgitating rhetoric that doesn"t answer the questions. She is circumlocutious, devoid of intellectual curiosity and each interview when forced to answer a follow up question it is highlighted that this empress has no clothes.

[scandinavian]

so that means you and all of your friends could become president of the us right here right now?
simply: get real.

[1pappy]

Why did Mcain pick this woman above the rest? Maybe the question should be: Why did Obama pick that man above Hillary? Both candidates had a chance to make an historical VP pick. Obama went with the same old same old.

[justhope]

I know why Obama chose Biden over Hillary. Biden has a lot less skeletons than Hillary does. The Republicans had numerous websites and ads created to trash Hillary, a lot had factual items including the very serious felony case pending in California; that didn't look good. The only reason Hillary got as far as she did was due to Obama choosing not to trash her. The Republicans wouldn't be so nice to her. Factually Hillary would be a drag on the ticket. Just as many people would vote against it because of these facts. The VP should never hurt the ticket. Biden enhances Obama's ticket not hurt it. Palin's deficiency on the depth and breadth of substantive issues hurts McCain. I say Obama made his first executive decision wisely.

[BCubedReg]

I'll tell you why Obama didn't pick Hillary... and I really believe this.... Obama didn't pick Hillary because he respects her and Obama knows Hillary is obviously Presidential material. Hillary should not be number 2 to anyone and he respects that enough not to deminsh her with an offering of the number 2 spot.

I honestly think that if he had offered it, she would have refused, as she should have.

Both Obama and Hillary are top-of-the-ticket candidates. When they talk, people are moved, they listen. Unfortunately Obama and Hillary had to run into each other in the same election year. IT WAS JUST BAD FREAKIN' LUCK! The best 2 candidates happened to be in the same party in the same election year. Both Hillary and Obama are exceptional.

[Curmudjeon]

Why this woman? Why any of them?

Seriously, has anyone stopped and thought about how we, as a country, got here? Initially, I thought Barack Obama was going to be something different, and got excited about his candidacy. It seems to help if you stop there. He donates a fraction of his income to charity. I don't see anything in his life that shows any kind of accomplishment (other than Law Review). He seems to have started running as soon as he became a Senator. He apparently coldly dumps anyone that is a risk to him, which show an absence of character, and worse a chilling old-style political personality.

McCain may have been a maverick 20 years ago - but he seems to have absorbed the puppeteer. His time is past. He moves positions constantly. He has alienated pretty much everyone, and doesn't have any strong base of support. What does he stand for? I have no idea. Although it seems petty, his speaking style is like nails on a chalkboard.

However, we seem to struggle to put up outstanding candidates. Why? The best we've had is Bill Clinton, and he's probably lucky Lewinsky wasn't a minor. Our two candidates have donated less to charity than a just-out-of-college worker. For Democrat candidates to not match their words and actions is the height of hypocrisy. Can't an admirable person, living up to Democrat ideals be found? What's wrong with finding someone our kids can look up to?

[lwfky]

I, for one, am hoping that this woman gets her clock wiped. She is snarky, overly-ambitious, and would be one of the worst things that could ever happen to our country. Please, Joe, give her the death blow and get this over with!

[ericmiami]

Too bad Debbie Wasserman-Schultz couldn't sit in for Biden.

[KarateKid]

I was a supporter of Obama over Hillary Clinton and still am. But, what Sarah Palin has done is to elevate Hillary Clinton's stature, and the author's points are very accurate; the comparison IS stark. It gives me greater appreciation of Hillary Clinton's intelligence, her experience, and her political acumen. I never thought I'd say this, but there's nothing like a little comparative example.

[tuttlemsm]

I couldn't agree more. I loathed Hillary Clinton through this primary. Now I'm constantly singing her praises again, just because of the comparison.

Biden did debate Hillary, and everyone who debated Hillary had to bring their A-Game.

[Venicedread]

Biden should remind Palin at some point in the night, "I know Hillary Clinton, and your no Hillary Clinton."
The only reason why Clinton didn't win the nomination was because Obama ran a better campaign.
And still does to this day.
Hillary Clinton vs. Barack Obama was the real contest, as both are the best candidates we've had running this year.
The McCain circus should just leave town.

[SickStan]

It's unfortunate that in this debate format, with the conventional wisdom the way it is, that Joe Biden can't just rip apart SarahPain's expected distortions, "glittering generalities", and outright lies. The moderator isn't an adversary, and with the open forum, she can deliver flashcard lines without the spontaneity, diction, and cadence needed for give-and-take debates and interviews.

[joeinvt]

Why did McCain pick Palin? He didn't. William Kristol did. Not satisfied with having done as much damage as he could via the Iraq war, Kristol wishes to take the country all the way down via Palin. Google "Kristol Palin" for details on his involvement.

[Shiba Inu149]

'Her performance at the Republican convention was masterful.'

I strongly disagree with you on that point, anyone can give a good 'attack' speech, especially when it's already written and in the can for you. It may have gotten the 'base' motivated, but it probably ran some of the more centrist voters to the Obama camp, which is all the better!

I would suggest that McCain felt a real need to get his conservative base on board, which in itself is telling about his campaign, which played a large part in the selection of Gov. Palin.

I find it interesting that the McCain campaign seemed to want to have it both ways; they wanted Gov. Palin to appeal to the conservative base, and Senator McCain to appeal to the independents. Sorry, can't have it both ways guys, pick one side of the fence or the other.

That's exactly why this is slipping away from Senator McCain.....poor judgement!

[XME]

"Can you imagine pundits talking about how Joe Biden needed to be careful not to show off with, say, Hillary Clinton? How he should be gentlemanly, but be careful not to be condescending or sound arrogant or like a know it all. Can't upstage the female too badly now, boys. Not a chance. People would be saying that Biden better show up with his A game, because if he doesn't Clinton will clean his clock."

You're so right, and it is depressing. She's not stupid, but she is clueless, and the result is that everyone expects her to be treated with kid gloves for fear that anything more would be considered sexist. What a huge disservice to women that McCain wouldn't pick a woman that that everyone would feel DESERVED to be treated equally, instead of one everyone seems to feel needs to be coddled.

[FogCityJohn]

But no one should give in to the sexist notion that Palin needs to be "coddled." Her gender is unrelated to her competence or lack thereof. If it were a man who were as clueless as Palin seems to be, no one would be saying he shouldn't be shredded on stage for lacking the intellect and knowledge to do the job. We need to stop using a double standard for women.

If the McCain camp complains that Palin's being treated unfairly, too bad. If Hillary were up there, we know she could take the heat without anybody having to go easy on her. (As could Dianne Feinstein, Claire McCaskill, Olympia Snowe, or Elizabeth Dole.) And if Hillary can do it, so can other women. If *this* woman can't do it, then by all rights she should be exposed as incompetent and unfit to serve. That's what these debates are for.

If ever a situation called for equal treatment regardless of gender, this is it.

[Blk independant]

True! He picked her because he has no idea what the hell he is doing!

[marignymitch]

I think the babe factor counted for something in his decision.

[psfurlong356]

Taylor Marsh is the greatest writer in the entire universe! ;)

[lynnn]

Sad but true.

[zasu]

I am a tad nervous about tonight simply because the bar is set so low, that if she doesn't throw up on Gwen, she will be considered a great success.

All kidding aside, she could benefit as W. did against Gore, but using is ignorance and aw shucks persona to "charm" the voting public.

[Zenobius]

Oddly, I'm not sure she will be the disaster everyone else seems to think she will be.

After all, if she became President, what would she do? She'd hire wonks, probably from AEI, Heritage Foundation, and the Council on Foreign Relations. She'd hire pollsters. She'd appoint a Treasury secretary from Wall St. She'd let corporate lobbyists run the government. She'd probably listen to the advice of her wonks, pollsters, and lobbyists. This is different from Bush and McCain how?

In fact, Obama seems to be basically a centrist, who would get his wonks from Brookings, EPI, and the Council on Foreign Relations. His pollsters would be different, but the effects of polls and short term political calculation would be the same. He too has corporate lobbyists working for him. His performance on the bailout bill does not suggest that he is a closet populist, and his suggesting of cross border raids into Pakistan does not inspire a ton of confidence in his caution and ability to maintain the confidence of our foreign allies. Obama - Biden is clearly better than McCain - Palin; but if Washington seriously misunderstands the world, Obama's responses could also be very serious mistakes.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a Democrat. But all this complaining about Palin's inadequacies seems tied to a very superficial analysis of what is going on.

[Shabba]

You are quite right in that the president has a lot of advisers who will heavily influence his decisions. However, he is still the final decider. And don't ignore the ability of a president to cause incredible consequences with just one mistake, such as George Bush deciding to go to war against Iraq.

[lwfky]

Great example, but I think there were a lot more bad decisions than that ( Katrina, our current financial meltdown, leaving Afghanistan, etc.,etc.,etc.).

[OneAngryDwarf]

Being President isn't about having advisors who make decisions for you. A good President will find a good set of advisors who will present him with good information so he can make a good decision.

Think about Lincoln he found the best people he could for his cabinet, he took their input and made the best decisions he could. That is a model for a good business, it is a model for a good home and it should be a model for a good government.

Don't believe me look at how old George has been running things for years. Ask Collin Powell how much input he had into the decision to go into Iraq. It is a subtle difference but an important one.