Obviously, no choice that John McCain or Barack Obama could make regarding a running mate would be likely to change my support for McCain against Obama. But McCain could make some good choices, or some bad ones, and so here are some points I would like to make.
I had previously said some favorable things about Mitt Romney as a VP nominee. Nothing has changed; Romney would still be one of the better choices. But today I saw a newspaper article saying that McCain is being recommended by some supporters to pick a female VP. Two names were given: Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska and Carly Fiorina.
I find the whole idea of picking someone purely on the basis of race or gender as somewhat repugnant, but I recognize that politics can work that way. In any case, however, if McCain does pick a woman, I would hope that it would be someone who is qualified. And while I feel that Palin is not really qualified, Fiorina would be an interesting choice.
To nominate Sarah Palin would be the equivalent of the Democrats' nomination of Geraldine Ferraro some years ago. Ferraro clearly had insufficient experience, and would never have been nominated if it weren't for her gender. (In fact, I'm certain that Barack Obama would never have been nominated this year if it weren't for his race, for the same reason.) Sarah Palin, and Bobby Jindal (another governor being talked about for VP, who would break precedent because of his ethnicity), will, I am sure, be rising stars of the Republican Party, and if they do good jobs in their States' executive mansions, they may well be tapped for high national office in future years. But neither one has been Governor for even a full term; Jindal not even for a year!
Carly Fiorina, in a sense, has even less experience; she has never held any elective or appointive office. But her experience as CEO of a major high-technology corporation is valuable. She's actually run something that is bigger than some States. And I think this gives her some of the same appeal that a Mitt Romney has. I think she'd be a good choice.
2 comments:
Q&A
1. How can McCain SIMULTANEOUSLY attract both Hillary AND Bob Barr voters?
ANSWER: Sarah Palin
2. Which McCain Veep pick is SIMULTANEOUSLY the safest AND boldest?
ANSWER: Sarah Palin
3. What confirms that Sarah Palin is unassailable by the Democrats?
ANSWER: The left promotes as a ’scandal’ that Palin notified state police that her ex-brother-in-law state trooper threatened to kill Palin’s dad.
As I said in my post, Sarah Palin has the potential to be a rising star of the GOP in the future. But how can one point the finger at Barack Obama for his inexperience and, at the same time, put in line to succeed John McCain (who would be the oldest person elected to the Presidency) a woman who has less than two years as a governor of a small (in population, not in area) state?
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