But you know, a smoke-and-mirrors belief like that will play well to the religious right and the rest of the population probably won't care one way or the other. So it's a wash for McCain. But great googly moogly, what about all these other revelations that are cropping up on what seems like an hourly basis? The New York Times takes a close look at the controversy creeping up on Palin:
On Monday morning, Ms. Palin and her husband, Todd, issued a statement saying that their 17-year-old unmarried daughter, Bristol, was five months pregnant and that she intended to marry the father.
Among other less attention-grabbing news of the day: it was learned that Ms. Palin now has a private lawyer in a legislative ethics investigation in Alaska into whether she abused her power in dismissing the state’s public safety commissioner; that she was a member for two years in the 1990s of the Alaska Independence Party, which has at times sought a vote on whether the state should secede; and that Mr. Palin was arrested 22 years ago on a drunken-driving charge.
Aides to Mr. McCain said they had a team on the ground in Alaska now to look more thoroughly into Ms. Palin’s background. A Republican with ties to the campaign said the team assigned to vet Ms. Palin in Alaska had not arrived there until Thursday, a day before Mr. McCain stunned the political world with his vice-presidential choice. The campaign was still calling Republican operatives as late as Sunday night asking them to go to Alaska to deal with the unexpected candidacy of Ms. Palin.
Wow. Just wow. If this is an accurate assessment of the situation, McCain's inclination to shoot from the hip may have simply shot him in the foot. If he felt he had to have a woman on the ticket in order to win the election, I can think of quite a few Republican women far more qualified and more vetted than Palin: Elizabeth Dole, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Olympia Snowe, Condoleeza Rice... I don't necessarily agree with their politics, but I respect their abilities and don't doubt they'd be qualified to step in and run the show should McCain's melanoma come back.
The Wife and I were discussing this today, shaking our heads. The cynic inside us began to wonder if McCain really did know about all of the skeletons in Palin's closet, and picked her with the understanding that she'd eventually withdraw. That way McCain could get the good press of picking a woman, but still get the name brand of Mitt Romney or whoever as a final running mate. But geeze, that seems way too Machiavellian, even for Karl Rove.
Now Playing: Prince Batman
If she withdraws now, it can only be seen as a giant admission that she never should have been picked in the first place, which I think would be a black eye for McCain (as far as casting doubt on his decision-making) from which his campaign would never recover.
ReplyDeleteThey're stuck with her.