McCain unveils 'The Barracuda'

By Kim Ghattas
BBC News, Dayton, Ohio

There were no late night text messages and perhaps not the same build up that preceded the announcement of Barack Obama's choice for running mate.

But because it was kept a secret almost until the end, John McCain's choice did generate a fair amount of rumour and speculation.

Was he going to pick a traditional candidate, a safe bet - someone like the young governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, or would the veteran Arizona senator go for the wild card?

The answer came on a private jet that flew in from the Alaskan city of Anchorage on Thursday night and landed outside Dayton, Ohio, apparently carrying on board a woman, two men and two teenagers.

All the journalists who were covering the story started looking up the biography of Sarah Palin, the 44-year-old governor of Alaska.

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The Republicans should be happy... very focused lady with strong conservative views while so far, one must say Obama's views have been elastic and vague, despite a brilliant rhetorical style... Palin can also speak with clarity and purpose. Unless Obama comes up with less flip-flop and more firm polices, he's going to have a big fight on his hands. One must not forget that he voted with some of Bush policies while Hillary and McCain voted against them. Palin supports the NRA and the "right for life", she is anti gay marriage or union and is a strong God believer...

Yesterday was John McCain's 72nd birthday.  

If elected, he'd be the oldest president ever inaugurated.  

And after months of slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people. 

Huh? 

Who is Sarah Palin?  

Here's some basic background:  

·                     She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year & a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.

·                     Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.

·                     She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000.

·                     Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.

·                     She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.

·                     She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling & says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska. 

Palin, a self-proclaimed 'reformer' is currently under investigation by the Alaskan legislature for ethical violations & considers Hillary Clinton to be a 'whiner'? 

How closely did John McCain vet this choice?  

He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting.  

They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president.  

Then he offered her the position. 

Presidential scholars say she appears to be the least experienced, least credentialed person to join a major-party ticket in the modern era… “I think she is the most inexperienced person on a major party ticket in modern history,” said presidential historian Matthew Dallek… 

“It would be one thing if she had only been governor for a year and a half, but prior to that she had not had major experience in public life,” said Dallek of Palin.  

“The fact that he would have to go to somebody who is clearly unqualified to be president makes Obama look like an elder statesman.”

Palin Made an Impression From the Start
Fellow Maverick Survived McCain's Thorough Vetting Process, Aides Say

By Dan Balz and Robert Barnes
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, August 31, 2008; A01

ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 30 -- Their first encounter was last February at the National Governors Association meeting in Washington. Sarah Palin was one of several governors who met privately with Sen. John McCain, by then well on his way to capturing the Republican presidential nomination, and her directness and knowledge were impressive.

Later that day, at a largely social gathering organized by his campaign, McCain spent 15 minutes in private conversation with the first-term Alaska governor. "I remember him talking about her when he came back," a McCain adviser said. "He said she was an impressive woman. He liked her."

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Drawing Women’s Attention, Maybe Not Allegiance
By JACKIE CALMES (NYT)

Judith France and her daughter Holly France-Kremin have been torn about their choice for president ever since Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton lost the Democratic nomination to Senator Barack Obama. Now Senator John McCain has made up their minds, but in different ways, by his surprise pick of Sarah Palin, the little-known Alaska governor, as his Republican running mate.

“It made me like McCain a little more,” said Judith France, 62, of Thornville, Ohio. “They always say he was a maverick, and this made me think, well, he really is. He went all the way to Alaska — there aren’t that many people up there, they don’t have that many electoral votes — and he picked this person. I know people will say she’s inexperienced. But she’s been a governor for 20 months. That’s more experience than Obama has.”

Ms. France-Kremin, 36, who lives nearby in Dublin, an affluent suburb of Columbus, likewise has qualms about the seasoning of Mr. Obama, a first-term United States senator after eight years as a state senator. But she also strongly favors abortion rights, and Ms. Palin — more prominently than Mr. McCain — does not.

“That sealed my decision,” said Ms. France-Kremin, who added that she would no longer consider voting for Mr. McCain.

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Gus: either way, the element of surprise has wiped off much of the Obama momentum in the news. Meanwhile, the world is held to ransom by the US election. On one side, some hope and change and vague policies, on the other side more of the present conservative ideal with more grit. Both could win. Either way it might not make a hoot of difference....

John McCain has managed to regain the Republican support that Bush had managed to loose with his hocus "porcus". As much, these days, the greedy hip pocket nerve might be the decider for the non-committed voters...  Unless it's a few crooked voting machines that decide who the Grand Decider for the next four years will be... Many of the swinging voters might stay home because they don't like any of the candidates...

The new... 2 to one odds on favourite...

Palin's Pregnancy Problem

My first reaction was shock. Then anger. John McCain chose a running mate simply because she is a woman and one who appealed to the Republican's conservative evangelical base. Now, with news that Palin's 17-year-old unmarried daughter is pregnant, McCain's pick may not even find support among "family values" voters.

It has happened before, of course. Geraldine Ferraro was chosen as the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 1984 because she was a woman, but that was 24 years ago. I thought we were past ithis. Apparently not. McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate is a cynical and calculated move. It is a choice made to try to win an election. It is a political gimmick. And it's very high risk. I find it insulting to women, to the Republican party, and to the country.

This is nothing against Palin. From what little we know about her, she seems to be a bright, attractive, impressive person. She certainly has been successful in her 44 years. But is she ready to be president?

And now we learn the 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant. She and the father of the child plan to marry. This may be a hard one for the Republican conservative family-values crowd to swallow. Of course, this can happen in any family. But it must certainly raise the question among the evangelical base about whether Sarah Palin has been enough of a hands-on mother.

McCain claims he knew about the pregnancy, and was not at all concerned. Why not? Not only do we have a woman with five children, including an infant with special needs, but a woman whose 17-year-old child will need her even more in the coming months. Not to mention the grandchild. This would inevitably be an enormous distraction for a new vice president (or president) in a time of global turmoil. Not only in terms of her job, but from a media standpoint as well.

McCain's cynical choice has created a dilemma for many women. For still-angry Hillary Clinton voters, they will have to decide if they want to vote against their concscience and political interests by voting to elect a Republican woman who's even more conservative than McCain.

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read more of Sally Quinn at the Wahington Post