Demos: Prick For President

Sadly, by now, the Republican National Convention has come and gone, proving my point about being cautiously optimistic about the vituperative nature of the campaign. The "liberals" being compared to the Viet Cong? Thanks, Mr. President. Oh well, at least someone in the RNC postponed the first day of the convention to keep the focus on Hurricane Gustav. Sarah's Palin's speech, though, had quite a bit of partisan rancor and even more lies. Way to go, Governor.

By now you've heard that Republican presidential candidate and long time U.S. Senator John McCain chose Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his Vice President. It's not exactly an intellectual masterstroke to say the decision was made to appeal to many different segments of the US population. I'm starting to feel that McCain's choice of 44 year old mother of five Governor Palin represents a political Rorsarch test, with some liberal Democrats saying it's a desperation play for some of the bitter ex-Hillary people in the voting booths, some conservative outlets saying it's a maverick picking another maverick, traditional outlets saying it's a play for the disenfranchised Romney or Huckabee voters who are threatening to "sit out" the election.

Thus, the questions: Who, exactly, does this attract, and with who in mind, was it made?

From the traditional standards of electoral scorekeeping, the pick doesn't make sense. Alaska doesn't have enough electoral votes worth mentioning, and neither does the northwest. I was unaware that social conservatives were ever not going to vote for McCain, but at least according to Politico, the traditional Republican voters became tremendously more excited and more likely to play ball with the former reformer. We'll see if that holds.

I'll hazard a guess that Governor Palin was chosen based on being an obscure politician with fairly impeccable conservative credentials, in addition to having significant, if small scale organizational and legislative experience. All that, in addition to being a woman.

Also (but not paradoxically), you probably can take Senator McCain at his word here when he says that one of the reasons he chose her was to shake things up in Washington. Her experience as Governor of Alaska is, at best, two years total, having defeated the Republican incumbent. She's been a dynamic individual in Alaskan politics, pushing through the Alaskan Gasline Inducement Act after a couple years of inaction, tapping a Canadian corporation to do so. Before 2004, Senator McCain used to be a maverick, so perhaps he sees a little bit of himself in Governor Palin, a woman who is very comfortable with her views (pro-gun, against abortion except only in the case of the death of the mother) and isn't afraid to accept the consequences and drawbacks of her position.

According to members of my family in Alaska, Governor Palin is a tenacious, skilled politician who listens, connects well and radiates warmth, so it will be interesting to see when she gets dispatched here (and also in Michigan and Ohio) how she fares amongst the populous.

I'm not particularly concerned about her age, any more than I'm concerned about Senator Obama's, though that question appears to appeal to a lot more people. This general election has been significantly less dirty than the past two and I'd like to see that continue. I've heard significant policy disagreements and not personal attacks. Even the slimy ex-Swift Boat people have only written a book about Obama, and it's not even a part of McCain's campaign.

I'm cautiously optimistic about the next couple months that they won't be filled with the same vituperative sloganeering that characterized the 2004 or 2000 elections, and with the choices that both Senators running for President have made, it looks to be an interesting race. By the time this column goes to print, the Republican National Convention will have already happened, and I look forward to the goings on in and around it.