Month: August 2008

I’d go a little further myself. It’s the most irresponsible decision by any leading presidential candidate since Bush picked Quayle. For Charles, it must be a little insulting to have worked many years thinking about foreign policy in high office, and to be facing a potentially catastrophic period of war in the Middle East and find that a woman whose expertise is in fishing, snowboarding and oil-drilling has been deemed worthy of leading the free world at the drop of a hat. But that’s how seriously McCain takes national security.

This was about marketing not governing; hiring for appearance not competence. And they did it – without apparent irony – on the anniversary of Katrina as another hurricane threatens. From from being a reversal of the Bush administration’s worst instincts, McCain seems itent on recreating it – as farce. Heckuva Job, Sarah.

If she was vetted, very few people in Alaska knew of it:

Phillips has been active in the Ted Stevens re-election steering committee and remains in close touch with Sen. Lisa Murkowski and other party leaders, and she said nobody had heard anything about McCain’s people doing research on his prospective running mate.

"We’re not a very big state. People I talk to would have heard something."

Gingrich is talking about the triumph of authenticity. Yes: conservatives for the importance of authenticity over basic competence. Well: they sure aren’t elitists.

The important thing for today’s Republicans is that the leaders evoke the kind of cultural identity of evangelical Christians, regardless of their competence or knowledge or even interest in, you know, governing. You pick a candidate because of her gender and religion and recent baby, even if she has no record of even any opinions on foreign policy and the only opinion you can actually find opposes the critical plank of McCain’s war "strategy."

War? What war? The Republicans have a base to rally. Readers know what I think of the current GOP. But this pick, and the base’s response to it, suggests a political party that has nuked the fridge.

Does he even hear himself?

"She’s not from these parts and she’s not from Washington. But when you get to know her, you’re going to be as impressed as I am."

When you get to know her. He met her once before he interviewed her last week.

From the Republican State Senate President Lyda Green:

"She’s not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?" said Green, a Republican from Palin’s hometown of Wasilla. "Look at what she’s done to this state. What would she do to the nation?"

I repeat: the Republican State Senate President. From Palin’s hometown. I mean, the ads just write themselves. And the Democrats:

Anchorage Democratic state Sen. Hollis French said it’s a huge mistake by McCain and "reflects very, very badly on his judgment." French said Palin’s experience running the state for less than two years hasn’t prepared her for this.

 

Alaska Democratic Party chairwoman Patti Higgins, attending her party’s national convention in Denver, said she was shocked to hear the news this morning.

"In this very competitive election for them to go pick somebody who is … under a cloud of suspicion, who is under investigation for abuse of power. It just sounds like a pretty slow start to me," Higgins said.

 

The Obama people should say nothing. They don’t need to.

       

Pavlov would be proud. A few days ago, he cautioned against the Alaskan gamble: "Palin has been governor for less than two years." Now – surprise! – that’s a virtue. There is not a single mention in his latest piece of her lack of record of even any opinions on foreign policy in the past decade. From the magazine that said we couldn’t even risk voting Democrat in 2006 because the peril was so great.

Then this cascade of nouns and adjectives:

the liberal elites of New York and Washington… all the powers of the old liberalism, both in the Democratic party and the mainstream media … anti-small town and anti-religious prejudice … Democratic opposition research …  a credulous and complicit media …

Yes, hello again to all that. And this rallying cry:

Palin will be a compelling and mold-breaking example for lots of Americans who are told every day that to be even a bit conservative or Christian or old-fashioned is bad form. In this respect, Palin can become an inspirational figure and powerful symbol. The left senses this, which is why they want to discredit her quickly.

Oh, please. This is an apparently unvetted candidate whom Kristol himself warned against last week as too jejune. No one is criticizing her lifestyle or background (well, maybe a few jokes about beauty pageants and moose, but come on). They’re criticizing her qualifications and total lack of record of any kind on foreign policy. They’re criticizing her because she didn’t even have an opinion about the surge in the debate over a year ago and said her total input on the matter was what she’d heard "on the news." Is it really somehow anti-Christian or bigoted against old-fashioned rural folk to be gobsmacked that McCain thinks she should be a heartbeat away from the presidency in wartime?

Yes, the neocons tell us they are serious about the war. But the only war they seem really interested in at times is the old culture war. At least they know how to fight that one, I guess.

The Palin Troopergate scandal as governor – which at its core is about her use of her public office to pursue a private vendetta by firing a public safety commissioner – is not the only time Sarah Palin fired a public employee for reasons apparently unrelated to job performance. Hat Thief has the details. From the Anchorage Daily News December 1997:

A recall of Mayor Sarah Palin is off the table, at least for now, according to a group calling itself Concerned Citizens for Wasilla. The group of about 60 residents was formed Friday in response to Palin’s controversial firing of Police Chief Irl Stambaugh. Members say they’re concerned about the direction taken by Palin since her election last fall, and discussed a recall.

What happened?

Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin fired the city’s police chief and the library director without warning Thursday, accusing them of not fully supporting her efforts to govern. Irl Stambaugh and Mary Ellen Emmons said letters signed by Palin were dropped on their desks Thursday afternoon telling them their jobs were over as of Feb. 13 and that they no longer needed to report to work.

Not fully supporting her efforts to govern? Hmmm. From the ADN

Emmons has been the city’s library director for seven years. Stambaugh has headed the police department since it was created in 1993. Before that, he served 22 years with the Anchorage Police Department rising to the rank of captain before retiring. While both struggled with Palin when she was first elected in October, they said the letters caught them off guard. Both had publicly supported Palin’s opponent, long-time mayor John Stein, during the campaign last fall. When she was elected, Palin questioned their loyalty and even initially asked for their resignations. But both said Thursday that they thought things had been worked out. ”After the initial roller coaster, we were ready to work for Mayor Palin,” Emmons said. ”Unfortunately I think we were both fired for politics.”

Palin, when asked by a reporter about the firings, first denied that they had happened. When the reporter went back to the police chief:

Stambaugh’s response was to read part of the letter given to him. ”Although I appreciate your service as police chief, I’ve decided it’s time for a change. I do not feel I have your full support in my efforts to govern the city of Wasilla. Therefore I intend to terminate your employment. . . . ” ”If that’s not a letter of termination, I don’t know what is,” he said.

So Palin lied, as she did, by her own admission, in the later firing of police chief Monegan. Stambaugh eventually sued for wrongful dismissal. Palin won –  because the judge ruled that a mayor can legally fire a police chief for any reason she wants, political payback or otherwise:

 

Singleton said that under state law, police chiefs serve at the behest of the mayor unless otherwise specified by city ordinance. Stein, the former mayor, had worked out an agreement with Stambaugh forbidding termination without cause, but the city council never voted on it, Singleton ruled.

I’m curious: did McCain know about all this? Who vetted her?

Sarah Palin is booed at a Republican rally for praising Hillary Clinton.

Packer:

I’ve begun to believe that the best analogy for 2008 is 1980. The country desperately wants to get rid of a failed Presidency and the failed policies of the party in power; but a lot of people still don’t trust the new guy. If true, then the debates will decide this election. After Reagan appeared with Carter on October 28, 1980, and more than held his own, a close race turned into a landslide.

The headlines are about the broad polling reaction to Palin. But the most fascinating part of the first Rasmussen poll on the matter is how those who are currently undecided in the election feel. They, after all, are the votes both campaigns are trying to win over with their veep picks. The key data is in the cross-tabs, which have been missed in some of the coverage so far.

On the critical question, "With Palin As Vice-Presidential Nominee, Are You More Or Less Likely To Vote For McCain," there’s a striking result. Among those already for McCain, 68 percent say it makes them more likely to vote for him; only 6 percent say less; and 23 percent said no impact. Among those already for Obama, Palin made only 9 percent of them more likely to switch to McCain, 59 percent less likely, and 30 percent said it would make no difference.

But among the critical undecideds, the Palin pick made only 6 percent more likely to vote for McCain; and it made 31 percent less likely to vote for him. 49 percent said it would have no impact, and 15 percent remained unsure. More to the point: among undecideds, 59 percent said Palin was unready to be president. Only 6 percent said she was. If the first criterion for any job is whether you’re ready for it, this is a pretty major indictment of the first act of McCain’s presidential leadership.

One other striking finding. If McCain thought he could present Palin as a moderate, he was wrong. A whopping 69 percent view her as conservative (37 percent as very conservative), and only 13 percent see her as moderate.

From this first snap-shot (and unsettled) impression, Palin has helped McCain among Republicans, left Democrats unfazed, but moved the undecideds against him quite sharply. I totally understand why.