Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has had a lousy seventy-two hours.
That’s the only real conclusion that one can draw as news reports about the Republican Vice Presidential pick filter in. She was affiliated with and was a member of a secessionist political party, the Alaska Independence Party. She’s hired a lawyer in advance of her deposition in the Alaska State Trooper investigation where she’s accused of improperly firing the head of the state’s Safety Commission. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain had apparently only met Palin once prior to offering her the Vice Presidential position on his ticket. And then there’s the story that broke today.
All told, these stories look bad.
But they look back on John McCain.
Did he do any background research on his running mate?
Apparently not.
Josh Marshall of Talkingpointsmemo probably lays it out best as to what the last seventy-two hours means:
Individually, you can come to your own judgment about how consequential these stories are. What they show pretty clearly now — in addition to the news that the McCain campaign is only now sending in a vetting team — is that John McCain didn’t do any serious vetting of Palin before he invited her to join his ticket and, he hopes, become Vice President of the United States.
Fundamentally, of course, this is about John McCain. And the real issue here is what this slapdash decision says about his judgment.
Clearly, McCain exercised no judgment.
By all indications, Palin appears to be an oppo researcher’s dream. A cursory examination of her record indicates that.
And that’s who McCain wants a heartbeat away from the Presidency?
The Sarah Palin pick raises serious issues about John McCain’s fitness to be President. Because if this decision is indicative of McCain’s thought processes, what other questionable decisions would a President McCain make?
The question, of course, is how to make that argument in a respectful manner.
This election season — there’s nothing else like it.