The biggest argument people offer against Sarah Palin as a potential running mate for John McCain is essentially that she’s too obscure. Part of that is the “Alaska’s a 3-electoral-vote state that’s going to vote Republican anyway” thing (which I happen to think the Biden pick has neutralized, since Joe Biden also represents a small state that was already safely in the column), but it seems to me that the driving concern there is really that most Americans don’t remember Alaska’s up there most of the time and don’t really take anything that happens up there seriously, and therefore Gov. Palin might as well be from Guam for all anyone in the lower 48 cares—she’s just too obscure to be a credible pick.Now, speaking as a Seattle Seahawks fan still smarting over Jimmy Johnson’s comment back in 2005 (our Super Bowl season) that nobody cares about the ‘Hawks because “they’re way up there in South Alaska,” I probably take that sort of twaddle rather more personally, and find it rather more irritating, than is truly warranted. My personal reactions aside, though, I think the folks who call Gov. Palin too obscure to be Sen. McCain’s pick are seriously misunderestimating the power of the Internet, especially as an amplifier for good old word-of-mouth advertising. As evidence, I can offer my own experience with this blog. Probably nothing I’ve done in the last two years has done more to attract traffic than when I started talking about Gov. Palin; every time I put up a post about her, I get a spike in hits. What’s more, of the folks who find this blog through searches, over 31% are currently landing here from the search term “Sarah Palin,” and another 7% or so are landing from some variant of that. (For all of you looking for information on Sarah Palin’s church, I’m sorry, I don’t know anything about that.)I would have expected this sort of result had I been posting on someone like Mitt Romney, who’s already understood to be nationally well-known (and who knows, maybe I’ll get a spike from mentioning him, too); to see it connected to Gov. Palin tells me that in fact she’s already a lot better known around the country than those who are skeptical about her think, and that she’s generating a lot of interest and excitement. There’s simply nobody else out there on the GOP side (including, alas, our presidential nominee) who has people that fired up, or who has the potential to fire up that many more people. The other VP candidates have their supporters, but the people who will vote for McCain/Romney or McCain/Pawlenty will vote for McCain regardless, and probably about as happily; they don’t really add anything to the equation (and Gov. Romney turned off enough people during the primaries that I continue to believe that he would be a net drag on the ticket). Based on what I’m seeing, the same cannot be said of a McCain/Palin ticket, which would generate excitement, support, commitment, and ultimately votes that no other possible combination would.(Update: we’re not just holding serve here, we’re seeing this go to a new level; judging by the spike in hits I’ve gotten today, interest in Gov. Palin continues to multiply. Sen. McCain, the excitement is out there: I hope you have the vision and the cool hand to grab hold of it, even if the CW is that naming her would be a gamble. But then, you have the gambler’s nerve.)(Further update: as the log keeps turning over—I don’t pay for StatCounter, so I just get the free 500-entry log—Gov. Palin keeps gaining on the rest of the list; as of now, right around 70% of all the search hits on this blog over that period were looking for Sarah Palin. That’s how strongly things are running right now. The wave is there for Sen. McCain to catch if he will.)
Rob,
I absolutely agree that Palin is by far the most impressive of the VP picks on paper. Her lack of experience at a national level however makes her a potential risk to the ticket. While she would assuredly pick up many of the disaffected female Hillary supporters, how will she handle the pressure on the national stage? While she still gets my vote for the best ticket add, the strategists need to insure that she can weather the storm. Somehow I don’t think the political climate in Alaska rises (lowers?) to the level of the national debacle that currently exists.
Also, traditionally the Vice Presidential candidate is charged with doing the dirty work. These are the bulldogs for the ticket, and quite frankly, Palin has too much class than to sully her name and reputation with that kind of responsibility. Then again, Karl Rove is back in the picture and such a role might be unnecessary? Your thoughts on this?
My guess, Pawlenty gets the nod thereby off setting the minority and youth advantages of the Obama ticket. It also provides McCain the opportunity to groom the future of the Republican party; something I envision him enjoying immensely. The down side to this selection is the presumption that Biden will throttle him and spit out his carcass; something that most assuredly not happen with Sarah.
She does have national experience with the national governors’ organization (whatever it’s called), dealing with energy issues, though I grant it’s limited; and if you look at the political climate in Alaska (she’s popular with the people, but unpopular with both parties; the Alaska media and legislature are currently trying to blow up a scandal to hamstring her), I think she’s already proven she can weather the storm. What’s more, she’s already proven herself as a bulldog, albeit one who could do so with more class than usual–how do you think she got to be governor up there, after all? Over the dead bodies of the corrupt Alaskan political leadership, that’s how.
Besides, choosing Palin would give McCain “the opportunity to groom the future of the Republican party” to a greater extent than Pawlenty.
Despite the Dems and the allied main stream media’s desperation to see Romney as McCain’s Veep, Mitt is clearly out, with (1) Obama doubling down on the class warfare theme (McCain’s 7 houses) and (2) McCain doubling down with ads showing the hypocrisy of Biden attacking Obama in the primaries — Romney did way more than that contra McCain.
This leaves only Govs Sarah Palin and Tim Pawlenty. Pro-abortion Ridge and Dem-Lieberman were never real considerations, despite relentless media goading. Pawlenty’s lackluster TV performances, coupled with Palin pizzazz, the primacy of oil drilling and the ticked off women/Hillary voters, does now portend a McCain/Palin checkmate on the Dems. This is so albeit the Dems and liberal media dare not mention Palin’s name, that is, everyone but…..
And if there’s any question as to Palin being uniquely positioned and able to more than nullify Biden in debate, see the excellent discussion at palinforvp.blogspot.com
Team McCain, well done!!!
Note, Ted: you posted that comment once already. No repeat comments, please.
Rob,
Ha! Okay, let me concede the point and rephrase my comment then, she has limited national experience.
One other thing I failed to mention, it really seems to me that Palin could magnify some of the flaws in McCain’s personality by comparison. With Pawlenty he looks like an elder statesman, but with Palin, he looks like the wrong person is leading the ticket. I’m not sure, at this level, that any politician’s ego could take that kind of blow to their image. I have nothing to back that comment up, just my impression (perhaps my adoration of Palin showing a bit too much).
She could; but then you say, well, he had the humility and grace to put someone on the ticket who can outshine him. If you had Gov. Palin herself saying good things about him personally (as well as policy-wise) in every appearance, I think the cumulative effect would be positive for him.
I realized today, in checking an earlier post, that I’d already given Ted what I told him was his final warning on posting the same comment multiple times; so, his last duplicate comment on this post has been deleted, and any future ones will be as well.
You are right. I found you through googling Sarah Palin + Church. I know you said you don’t know much, but do you know anything? I heard her reference her son’s creator, but was wondering if you knew her religious standing? Thanks!
Brandi
brandi@kidslake.org or http://www.homehopeandfuture.blogspot.com