John McCain has certainly "thrown a googly" as I suggested a couple of posts ago, and appointed a woman to his VP spot. It is more of a googly than I thought, as his choice, former Vogue cover girl and Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, is a virtual unknown. Whether his surprise choice will rejuvenate his campaign or bring him more problems is still under scrutiny - the Politico website thinks its a desperate choice, born of a belief that the McCain campaign is heading for defeat against Obama. I'm not as sure of the ascendancy of the Obama campaign at the moment, despite its strong finish in Denver, and Sarah Palin may undermine the experience issue that was at the heart of Republican attacks last week. Nevertheless, she is also fresh, spoke well in her nomination press conference, has some clear success as an albeit relatively new governor of Alaska, and will reinvigorate the conservative base that she represents. The Democrats could, however, point out that she is hardly ready to step straight into the presidential shoes as the vice-president to the oldest man to take the office, and that may be a factor for some voters. One thing we can definitely say - this most exciting of presidential contests continues to throw up shocks and surprises.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
McCain's Pick
John McCain has certainly "thrown a googly" as I suggested a couple of posts ago, and appointed a woman to his VP spot. It is more of a googly than I thought, as his choice, former Vogue cover girl and Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, is a virtual unknown. Whether his surprise choice will rejuvenate his campaign or bring him more problems is still under scrutiny - the Politico website thinks its a desperate choice, born of a belief that the McCain campaign is heading for defeat against Obama. I'm not as sure of the ascendancy of the Obama campaign at the moment, despite its strong finish in Denver, and Sarah Palin may undermine the experience issue that was at the heart of Republican attacks last week. Nevertheless, she is also fresh, spoke well in her nomination press conference, has some clear success as an albeit relatively new governor of Alaska, and will reinvigorate the conservative base that she represents. The Democrats could, however, point out that she is hardly ready to step straight into the presidential shoes as the vice-president to the oldest man to take the office, and that may be a factor for some voters. One thing we can definitely say - this most exciting of presidential contests continues to throw up shocks and surprises.
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2 comments:
This announcement was bizarre, to the extent that you start to wonder if John McCain's age is affecting more than just his heart.
But for those of us - like, it seems, GM - who have accepted McCain is likely to win this election, it is very depressing indeed. We're left with a very real chance that the first woman president of the US will be grotesquely inexperienced, the challenges of running Alaska for a couple of years hardly preparing one for being the most powerful person on earth.
As an aside, discussing the nomination with a couple of American Democratic friends recently, they were delighting in the prospect of the vice preisdential debates. It's true that on something such as foreign policy Joe Biden is going to run rings around his opponent, and it will be very fun to watch. But I think the democrats need to be very, very careful here. Cynical, Washington hack beats up naive but good-hearted mother-of-five might not play out as well in the average American family home as it does amongst the liberal elite lucky enough to live in London.
I think the first debate is Tuesday, and I think Palin will give a feisty performance. Biden is known as a strong debater, but the worst thing he could do is go complacently into this one.
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