I'm seldom surprised by politics

[jdotmi]

John McCain picks Alaska Governer Sarah Palin as his running mate.

This is surprising to me. It almost feels a bit gamey. She's got solid politics behind her, though, so who knows.

Comments

[satyr-mi.livejournal.com]

My first thought was.. He picked the guy from Monty Python?

If he's playing the game, he's playing well. Kind of... The problem with playing the game is well.. the game playing.

If anything... the next administration will be historic.

[jdotmi.livejournal.com]

Yeah. No matter who wins. Palin looks pretty interesting, but I don't think she's going to be a lot of help to McCain in getting the hardcore conservatives. She seems a little moderate on gay-rights (for a Republican, anyway), although some of her other views fit a bit more with the more conservative elements.

[winterlady.livejournal.com]

Personally, I think he picked her because he knows he's not going to win - it's a false show of support for women's rights.

Someone pointed out she has a 4 month old daughter with Downs Syndrome and she's going to be spending all of her time on the road campaigning for political office??? That says to me, umm, about as much as being pro life does. Zealous ideals with little practicality behind them.

yeah, I'm neither impressed nor inspired by his choice. Frankly, I think it's a little too "in your face you liberals. I can be liberal too" to actually MEAN anything.

sorry to rant, I had no idea I had this bottled up inside of me.

[jdotmi.livejournal.com]

I don't blame ya. I think he's thinking he can win, but I don't think he really thought through his VP choice well. There were much better choices out there, even amongst female republicans.

[kageneko.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't call her "solid". She's been governor all of a couple of years and her experience prior to that was mostly city council and mayor of a podunk town no one's heard of. They've been bagging on Obama's experience all this time and they choose someone who has less real experience than she does.

She's definitely screamingly pro-life, and I also wonder if the mother of a 4 month old infant with Down syndrome can really commit the time to being VP of the US. Being governor of a state that is rather low on population (but large on land mass) is one thing. Being second in command of one of the most powerful nations in the world is a different game.

[jdotmi.livejournal.com]

I say "solid" because she has had pretty rapid results in what she's chosen to work on and has quickly garnered strong support. Much like Obama. Her actual views are definitely not my style.

And as many people have indicated, she'd be half a heartbeat away from the Presidency with next to no experience. So not what anyone is looking forward to.

[markuspyronis.livejournal.com]

It is a well played move on Mccain's part. It holds just enough risk (first woman vp, relatively fresh to politics) to potentially tip a close race, but she is low profile enough to do little damage to his image in case it all goes south.

[jdotmi.livejournal.com]

It's not like he's got long to worry about his image anyway...

[winterlady.livejournal.com]

LoL roane was just talking about this. And I quote:

"Sarah Palin seriously just invoked Hillary Clinton in her first speech as McCain's VP candidate. She practically said, "Hi! If you wanted to vote for Hillary, you can vote for me instead. We're just the same! We both have tits!""

[jdotmi.livejournal.com]

Yeah I read that, too. It's amusing.

[bugfish.livejournal.com]

I was thinking he picked her in a very ignorant attempt to bring over disgruntled Hillary supporters. But I think it may actually be to win back the arch conservatives that hate his guts.

[jdotmi.livejournal.com]

Oh I'm sure part of it is the Vajayjay crowd, but yes. She is significantly more conservative than he is in general, but his recent behavior is a bit alarming.