Palin as VP? Is McCain trying to lose the election?

Since yesterday’s announcement, I’ve experienced a range of emotions about McCain’s decision to choose AK Governor Sarah Palin as his VP running mate.  Mostly, those emotions have settled on disbelief, disappointment and disturbed.  Let’s explore our feelings, shall we?

Disbelief- The fact that McCain made this choice after having spoken to Palin once on the phone, and meeting once in person is shocking.  Was there no vetting process in place for the VP pick?  Did the campaign just allow McCain to do whatever he wanted, or did he insist that he would be the only “decider”?  A mayor of a town of less than 9,000 people, who took an opportunity to use her local “support” from oil, gas, and mining compaines for a parlay into the Governor’s office for just 18 months, does not provide one with the experience to serve as the possible next President.

Disappointment- This one surprised me.  I was really geared up for a big fight for the next 60 days, until November.  I know that there will still be one, but I can’t shake the feeling that McCain made this choice partly to innoculate his campaign from more critisism, as he’ll now use the POW defense in addition to co-opting the sexist defense on behalf of Palin.  If McCain wanted to choose a woman, there were so many other choices that would have served the nation far better than Palin- Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Christine Todd Whitman, even Elizabeth Dole.   At least we would have seen the attempt to have a semi-competent woman with one of these choices, but alas, that is not the case.

Does McCain really expect the PUMA’s to come running in a rallying cry around this choice?  Does he not see how Palin’s views, policies and actions totally fly in the face of everything Hillary stands for?  Does McCain actually think the PUMAs will simply vote for a vagina?

Disturbed- Palin is no wallflower, and as a result there’s plenty to be said of her conduct both personally and professionally.  Today, we see nearly all of the major papers in Alaska writing about their collective shock and dismay at this pick, soon to be followed by other national papers tomorrow.  Why all the fuss?  Let’s see what pies Palin has her fingers in:

• Palin is currently under investigation for attempting to have her brother-in-law fired from his job as an Alaska State Trooper as revenge for her sister’s nasty divorce proceedings. When she could not get him fired, she fired his boss instead for his refusal to cooperate.
• Palin’s first veto was to deny benefits to same-sex couples in Alaska
• Palin’s husband works for BP, and has been shown to have a great deal of influence in AK government.
• She has fought the listing of polar bears as an endangered species by suing the EPA, stating such a designation would get in the way of drilling for oil, and she has put a bounty of $150 per wolf killed in order to increase moose and caribou herds for hunters.
• Palin is agressively pro-life, even in cases of rape, incest or endangerment of the life of the mother.
• Palin is a Creationist who supports removing science-based teaching of evolution from schools
• Palin does not believe human have any impact at all on climate change.
• She has no foreign policy experience, she has no idea what the VP is supposed to do.  She has not traveled much within the US, and not at all outside of the US.
• Palin is likely the least experienced VP candidate in US History.

People are calling this pick “window dressing” for the McCain campaign.  Everyone can see that Palin would have no impact or influence in a McCain administration, and the fact that Palin would allow herself to be used in this way makes me respect her even less.

There are many questions left to be answered about Palin, and I’m betting this is going to get worse before it gets better.  How will the Obama camp respond to further implosion of the GOP?  It’s like watching a train wreck- you don’t want to see the physical damage, especially to the people involved, but you can’t take your eyes off of it.