Reading the Pick

I may be overreacting, but I sensed the faint odor of flop sweat around John McCain's pick of Sarah Palin as his running mate. Oh, sure, it was a maverick choice, all right. But what kind of logic did McCain bring to the decision? Nothing that would speak well of him as a president, that's for sure. The New York Times called it a bold move, but it has no other purpose than to be bold. It's a surprise because it's right out of left field, but surprise only lasts for so long. Once she's been in the glare of the spotlight for a couple of days, the surprise will have worn off, and then where will the McCain/Palin ticket be? Pretty much nowhere.

How would Sarah Palin do as president? Who knows? What does she bring to the table? I made fun of McCain for sending his wife to Georgia to do whatever it is she's supposed to do, but I now find myself wondering if Cindy was a better choice of emissary than the new VP candidate would be. Where does she stand on the issues? We know that she's against choice (way against). But what kind of economic policy does she support? Does she want to be in Iraq for 100 years? Is she (or can she in nine weeks become) ready to be president in case the oldest first-time presidential candidate for some reason cannot finish out his term?

Jan Crawford Greenburg related the process McCain used to get to pick Palin. Apparently he looked at all the people he'd been examining closely--Romney, Pawlenty, even Joe Lieberman--and decided that none of them were right. So he grabbed a straw out of the air and came up with someone he barely knew. What does that mean about the kinds of decisions he'd make if he makes it into the White House? "Forget what the research says! I'm my own man! I'm doing what I want to."