Sarah Palin: John McCain's Vice President a Reckless Decision?

It's no big secret that the Republicans can keep a secret. Senator John McCain's vice presidential choice has been no exception. It has been the McCain plan to announce the vice presidential pick at the political rally in Dayton, Ohio, on August 29 for weeks. Although it was "leaked" to CNN that the McCain camp would announce his running mate as soon as Senator Barack Obama made his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, that turned out to be somewhat of a feint.

Who Was On McCain's Vice President Short List?

The McCain Vice President short list has received quite a bit of attention in the past few weeks and even more since Barack Obama chose Senator Joe Biden as his running mate. Among the names on Senator McCain's list: Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Independent Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman.

But Pawlenty excused himself by mentioning that it would be a "fair assumption" that he was not the nominee because he would be at the Minnesota State Fair when Senator McCain announced his choice. And CNN's sources told them that Mitt Romney's people said he would not be in Dayton.

Stories that Karl Rove called Senator Joe Lieberman to try and get the senator to remove himself from consideration lit up the internet in the days before the rally as well.

But in the last hours before the rally in Dayton, another name surfaced, that of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Fueled by reports that a private plane had landed outside Dayton from Alaska, CNN began talking about the possibility of Palin being the Republican choice. Sarah Palin's name had been mentioned here and there as a long-shot but not seriously considered as a frontrunner for the position.

At 10:35 a.m. CNN reported that their sources confirmed that Senator McCain would indeed nominate Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Why Sarah Palin?

Sarah Palin, 44, is the youngest governor ever to be elected to the position of governor of Alaska and has been on the job for two years. She is known as a reformer, being credited with cleaning up corruption in the Alaskan government.

Palin will appeal to the Republican conservative base because she is a member of the National Rifle Association and takes an anti-abortion stance. She is the mother of five (which will somewhat cancel out the Obama children factor) and a Christian, which will possibly appeal social conservatives and evangelicals. With Palin being a woman, the McCain camp no doubt will try to capitalize on the disaffected women voters among the Hillary Clinton Democrats.

Another possible reason the McCain camp chose Sarah Palin is to appeal to those seeking change in Washington. Palin's relative youth, her gender, and her reputation all point to this being a major consideration.

Is Sarah Palin The Best Choice?

Questions will certainly arise as to the wisdom of the choice of the Alaskan governor as a running mate, just as they arose in regard to Senator Obama's choice of Joe Biden. These questions -- and the answers -- can seriously effect the vote come November. CNN is reporting that the Obama camp is fairly jubilant about McCain's choice.

Why?

At present, Sarah Palin is under investigation from the Alaska state legislature for using her political office to get an Alaskan state trooper fired. A telephone call that originated from the governor's office allegedly was made to get Governor Palin's sister's husband fired. Governor Palin's sister and husband have gone through a bitter custody battle and divorce.

The Democrats also can use Palin's youth against her. Just as the Republicans have used it against Senator Obama, the Democrats will present the case that Palin is nearly without any experience at all. She has been a city councilwoman and a mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a suburb of Anchorage, a city with the population of less than 8500.

In conjunction with her relative inexperience, Democrats will no doubt attack Palin on her foreign policy experience as well. Senator McCain consistently brought up the point of Senator Obama's youth and foreign affairs inexperience, which more than likely had a great impact on Obama's choice for a running mate (Biden is Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee). Governor Palin has virtually no foreign affairs experience and no national security experience.

So What Is The Overall Effect?

It is being touted as a bold move on the part of the McCain campaign. It is also being seen as something that might be potentially disastrous.
It seems that he may have made a decision that totally undermines his argument against Barack Obama being qualified for president by nominating someone with even less experience to hold an office that would put her in the most powerful political position on the planet should something happen to a president McCain.

On John McCain's 72nd birthday, his wisdom as a potential Commander-in-Chief will undoubtedly be questioned. And they will be the same questions asked that the John McCain campaign has been asking about Senator Barack Obama.

Does Sarah Palin have enough overall experience?

Can she effectively dictate American foreign policy?

Can she protect America?

Is she ready to lead?

For many voters, this decision will be surprising. For some it will be a positive move. For some, it is anticlimactic, given the fanfare of the Democratic National Convention. For others, it simply shows McCain's recklessness. But if John McCain was looking to do the unexpected, something for which he is known, he certainly succeeded.