So John McCain has made his choice for Vice President: first-term Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
John McCain tapped little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate today in a startling selection on the eve of the Republican National Convention.
In an announcement, the campaign said that Palin, who has been governor less than two years, “has the record of reform and bipartisanship that others can only speak of.”
“Her experience in shaking up the status quo is exactly what is needed in Washington today,” the campaign said.
I guess he’s still trying to woo the so-called PUMAs. I think the pool of unhappy Hillary Clinton supporters is considerably smaller after this week, and after last night, but hey, dream big.
McCain has had months to consider his choice, and has made it clear to reporters that one of his overriding goals was to avoid a situation like the one in 1988, when Dan Quayle was thrown into a national campaign with little preparation.
I’m thinking any time the name “Dan Quayle” appears in the same story as Sarah Palin, it’s not a good thing for her or McCain.
The main thing that strikes me about this is that by choosing a first-term governor of a small state as his running mate, John McCain has essentially conceded the “experience” issue. I have to think that this means he really didn’t like his other choices, because I’m not seeing what this one does for him. Well, okay, she’s probably the first VP candidate to have appeared on the cover of Vogue.So she’s got that going for her. I’m really curious to see the reaction she gets at the Republican convention. What do you think?
Oh, and given the Gustav threat looming in the Gulf, I love Muse’s suggestion that maybe McCain should be announcing his choice to head up FEMA today instead. Maybe we’ll get a twofer once he does the official unveiling.
UPDATE: OK, that Vogue cover is a Photoshop. Guess I missed the issue on the newsstands. But she was in Vogue, just in a more appropriate way.