Out of the clear, blue Alaska sky McCain stunned political pundits (and literally had them guessing until the final hour) by selecting the governor of our northern most state in Sarah Palin. Many jaws could be heard hitting the floor with a resounding thud when it became official on Aug. 29.
I admit the pick surprised me because I didn’t see any way in which McCain was not going to select Mitt Romney. I feared the pressure from the extreme right wing of the party would accept nothing less. In fact, I was all set to criticize McCain for losing his maverick status for selecting Romney. I guess once you are a maverick you are a maverick for life, however.
In some ways, we shouldn’t be surprised that McCain went his own way and made this selection. Some published reports indicated McCain really didn’t know Palin at all before selecting her as his vice presidential running mate. It doesn’t get much more maverick than that.
Realizing McCain’s choice had been made, the extreme right-wing element of the Republican Party figured it had no choice but to get on board. I happened to be in my vehicle when the official selection announcement was made and flipped the radio to Rush Limbaugh’s live show. Limbaugh, who of course long ago lost any ounce of credibility he had, acted like a complete buffoon as the announcement was being made.
Limbaugh carried on like he was viewing a peep show rather than carrying the announcement of the selection of the person who could one day become the leader of the free world. Limbaugh began drooling over Palin like a young teenage boy who strikes gold when he finds a copy of a Playboy magazine.
But enough about Limbaugh and his inflated ego. McCain went his own direction with his choice. Make no mistake, Palin is a conservative across the board from gun rights to abortion. However, the choice certainly was a bold move.
The presidential election of 2008 is now set up to be historic regardless of the outcome. We will either have our first African-American president or we will have our first female vice-president. It is a major step forward for our country and one we should all be proud of as citizens. Hopefully, it will open the door wider during future elections.
With less than two months to go until we enter our respective voting booths, I once again encourage everyone to get involved in this historic election.
Whether you support McCain, Obama or even another candidate like myself (Bob Barr), become involved in what is the most American of processes.
Few things you will ever do will be more important or more rewarding.
Chris Bridges is a reporter for MainStreet Newspapers. E-mail comments about this column to chris@mainstreetnews.com.
Actually this choice was a lot more calculated than most left-wing Democratic media pundits would give McCain credit for. Once again, they underestimate the "Maverick."
First, let's examine the reasons he choose Palin. McCain was personally waging a tough grass roots town to town campaign, and constantly challenging Obama to small town community debates.His mindset was an attempt to expose Obama's obvious weakness to articulate answers
when asked about specifics of his political platform from an average citizen.
As you can imagine, Obama would have none of it, realizing he would be putting himself at a distinct disadvantage by playing to McCain's strength in small town forums.
So, having failed for several months to draw Obama out into the open with this strategy, and trailing Obama in most national polls, McCain's back was against the wall to produce a new political variable, that would even the playing field, and get him back in the race, and put Obama and the Democrats on the defensive for a change.
Enter Sarah Palin Governor of Alaska. Reaction from Republicans: WHAT is he thinking? He should have chosen Mitt .....Reaction from Democrats:OH NO!! Now we're in serious trouble!! Why would Democrats think that?
Mr. Obama made the biggest political blunder of his career, by not picking Hillary Clinton as his running mate. Why you may ask? Simple. Votes.
Even using conservative estimates, Clinton would hand Obama 12-18 million votes in the general election. She would have solidified the female vote block of women 40+ years old for Obama. But because Obama was unable to envision 4 years of Hillary as VP, and having to pay off her $20 million campaign debt,plus the Bill Clinton wild card factor,he decides to pick Biden, to shore up his image as being inexperienced in international affairs, and try to rein in the 40+ year old male white vote he lacked. Major BOO-BOO Obama!
Neither Obama, or his savvy left wing generals saw this one coming, and are now angry and on the defensive, in trying to combat this new VP choice of McCain.
From the moment Palin was announced as McCain's VP choice, an electric shock wave of excitement, could be felt throughout the Republican Convention, and the Nation. Even the most right-wing conservative Republicans cracked a little smile and are now on board the McCain/Palin ticket, and so is their money for campaign contributions. Some 37 million viewers watched her speech at the Republican Convention. Since that night, the public simply can't get enough of Sarah Palin. Forget the fact that she would be the first female VP candidate in the history of the Republican Party,and she has been the current Governor of the State of Alaska for 2 years. She is a hockey mom! That's right, a normal mom, with a family, who understands the frustrations of trying to balance a career and family at the same time. She is a fiscal conservative, and has kept Alaska in the black from a state budget aspect. No deficits. Finally, Sarah is energizing women all over this nation. Recent polls have shown that she is reaching out to independent and Democratic women voters and bringing them on board. It would seem that the prospect of having the first female VP in the White House, is a more compelling reason to vote Republican, than Obama's "Real Change Platform".
McCain's choice of Sarah Palin to be VP........ BRILLIANT!! Vote McCain/Palin in November.
SIncerely,
DuWayne R. Anderson
Winder, GA
Republican supporter for McCain/Palin, for President and Vice-President of the United States of America.