Sarah Palin and Spiro Agnew: Strange VP Coincidences

You have all seen the emails about the amazing coincidences between the assassinations of presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. But did you know there are equally amazing coincidences between the Vice Presidential candidacies of Sarah Palin and Spiro Agnew? When Nixon announced his choice of veep, many of the delegates and media said, "Spiro who?" When McCain announced his choice of veep, many of the delegates and media said, "Sarah who?"

The coincidences run deeper than that, eerily deeper. As Lance Morrow of Time magazine said after Agnew's death "In Nixon's calculus, Agnew was a safe-bet border-state novice with no heavy baggage and a Greek-immigrant father, which would help with the ethnic vote." As far too many political columnists and late-night comics to name have said, in John McCain's calculus, Palin is supposed to be a safe-bet border-state novice with no heavy baggage and a pair of X chromosomes, which will help with the female vote. Tricky Dick Nixon lost his bet, and Sarah's baggage has inconveniently held more dirty laundry than expected.

Agnew's designated role in the 1968 campaign and as VP was as attack dog, attracting support from conservative Republicans by making flamboyant alliterative attacks on the nattering nabobs of negativism while Nixon pretended to be moderate in a political version of "Good Cop, Bad Cop". Palin calls herself a pitbull in lipstick and her role in the campaign appearances so far is to warm up the audience by making derogatory comments about Obama until McCain takes over with his "I'm not an Washington insider, I just hung out with them for 26 years" speech.

Agnew ran for governor as a reformer and Republican outsider. Palin ran for governor as a reformer and Republican outsider. Agnew was only in his second term as governor of Maryland when he was tapped by Nixon's magic wand. Palin was only in her second year as governor of Alaska when the wand whapped her. How weird is that?

Even weirder, both politicians got their start in local politics and received commission appointments as consolation prizes for losing an election in which 5 other candidates were running. Agnew was appointed to a county zoning appeals board after he came in dead last in a 5-way race for a local judge. Palin was appointed to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission after she lost the 5-way primary race for Lieutenant Governor. Agnew was removed from the board when the politician who appointed him lost an election, and made a name for himself in state politics by raising a fuss about cronyism. Palin quit in a snit and made a name for herself in state politics by raising a fuss about corruption on the board.

The legal similarities are still developing, but both Agnew and Palin have shown a stonewall-and-stall strategy when confronted with their abuse of power. Agnew resigned in 1973, after 5 years as VP, and plead no contest to charges he had asked for and received $147,500 in bribes during his time as Baltimore County Executive and as governor of Maryland. It might not have surfaced, but he insisted the payments continue while he was VP, at which time the contractors who were paying him turned him in for corruption. [Time, 9/30/1996] Palin is being investigated for attempting to use her power as governor to take care of a family feud and firing the state's Commissioner of Public Safety for refusing to fire her sisters ex-husband. Although she initially promised to cooperate, Palin has recently been erecting a wall of her own between the investigation committee and her staff.

After Spiro Agnew's death in 1996, historian Allan Lichtman observed, "He will always stand as one of the symbols of the corruption that undermined the Nixon administration." Joan Huff, author of a biography of Nixon, called Agnew "a tiny blip in history." [Greensboro News & Record, 9/19/1996] I wonder what the comments on Sarah Palin will bein 40 or 50 years. Will she be a blip or a long-lasting symbol. Will the series of creepy comparisons end with another vice president facing charges for bad behavior in office?