Friday, October 31, 2008

Palin gets the blame if McCain loses?

According to Politico, if McCain losses on Tuesday, his party is looking for a scapegoat. That scapegoat is Sarah Palin. McCain advisor's have labeled Palin as "a whack job", and a diva. She also apparently never takes advice from "the geniuses at the McCain campaign".

But, if Palin is so bad as a potential VP, then why did McCain choose her? If you're a 72 year old presidential candidate, wouldn't you choose your running mate with a little extra scrutiny and care for the sake of the future of the nation? Apparently, McCain didn't. He has even admitted that he "didn't know her well at all", when he made his decision.

But why? It wasn't like McCain was rushed, he wrapped up of his nominee decision by March, and didn't announce his decision until late August. Isn't that enough time to get to know your running mate? Isn't that enough time to investigate Palin's strengths, weaknesses, records, published accounts, and even talk to a few people to figure out that she was a whack job diva?

But he chose her anyway, as said in Politico, "He wanted to close the 'enthusiasm gap' between himself and Barack Obama. He wanted to inject a little adrenaline into the Republican National Convention. He wanted to goose up the Republican base.

One main complaint McCain's campaign has against Palin is that she is not sticking to their script. But in truth, her real problem isn't that she can't take orders, the real problem is that she is not ready to take the position of VP.

Yet in comparison, McCain has been ready for this job, as he has plenty of political experience. He told once told a crowd in Miami:

"The next president won't have time to get used to the office, I've been tested, my friends, I've been tested."

I don't think this quote can necessarily be applicable to Palin's case.

In my opinion, having a bad running mate won't make you lose the election, but I don't think it will help you much. In this case, I believe Palin has slowed down McCain's campaign, whereas with different running mate, he may be in a closer position towards presidency. Therefore, McCain has no one to blame but himself if he loses, because in actuality, it was McCain himself who chose his running mate.

2 comments:

Abby M said...

McCain should have looked into and researched the available position of Vice President before he made the decision to chose Sarah Palin. If he loses, then he will be able to blame her because he "thought" she would be a good and successful vice president, but she was not good enough. I believe that McCain, if anything, should be helpful and understanding of Sarah Palin and her accomplishments. She has tried her best to campaign and represent herself well. If McCain, he should not blame anyone but himself.

Zachary Agush said...

Yes. Palin will be one of the largest factors for McCain's failure tomorrow night. His failure to vet her correctly will cost dearly and will be remembered for many years to come. It might be an ugly stain on the Republican Party, which will only benefit the Democrats even more. This is McCain's last hurrah and if he looses, Palin will not leave the spotlight -- I would keep an eye on her possible run in 2012...