A Brilliant Choice, Indeed

In my latest post I said that McCain’s choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for VP was a brilliant move. Well, the line between genius and madness is a fine one, and we have yet to see which it is in this case. It may be a brilliant move, indeed – for the Democrats.

So far it is at least very entertaining, with Palin’s soap opera life story being unrolled in the media. First, there are the rumors all over the internet that Palin’s five months old baby is really the child of her teenage daughter. Then the campaign comes out with news that the teenage daughter is indeed pregnant (conveniently, she’s exactly five months pregnant, effectively putting an end to the rumors). None of this should matter, of course, except that it does bear some relevance to Palin's political positions. She, her baby (who was born with Down Syndrome), and her daughter are living proof of Palin’s pro-life ideals, which will surely make the Evangelicals happy (though they’ll have to overlook the moral issue of an unwed teenage mom). To others, her daughter’s pregnancy is evidence of the folly of Palin’s abstinence-only sex education policy.

Even if Palin’s and her daughter’s reproductive choices should be off-limits, thornier issues are surfacing. Such as the ethical investigation into her possible attempt to get her ex-brother-in-law fired from his job as a state trooper, with Palin ultimately firing his boss for not complying. The report on this issue will be released a few days before the general election. There’s also the question of whether she really was against the “Bridge to Nowhere” and other earmarks, or if she’s simply a political opportunist just like everyone else, taking the position that best suits her at the moment.

However these issues play out, it becomes increasingly clear that McCain made a very spontaneous decision that could turn out to be disastrous for him. He has effectively undercut his own casting of Obama as not being ready to lead. He has made people seriously question his judgment and ability to make important decisions. My guess is that the social conservative voters are going to love Palin, and McCain will largely have secured their support with this choice. But he’ll have independent voters and moderate Republicans scratching their heads. We’ll have to see how Palin fares once she starts actually saying something, other than talking about her family and her general ideas about politics. But it’s hard to imagine that she’ll do well discussing foreign policy, national security, or economy.

Obama seems to be born under a lucky star that has helped him so far in his political career. This comes just as his poll numbers started slipping. It could be the gift he needs to keep going. Thank you, John McCain!