The Dead Guy

We continue to hear the usual names as the talk about a McCain Vice Presidential running mate continues: Charlie Crist (Gov-FL), Bobby Jindal (Gov-LA), Mitt Romney, Tom Ridge, Meg Whitman (CEO-eBay), Fred Smith (CEO-FedEx) and, of course, Mike Huckabee. These individuals have been tossed around the MSM, as well as general circles of chatter. However, one name is suspiciously missing every time - that of Palin.

Palin. No, not Michael Palin - Monty Python member and travel doc extraordinaire … but Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. This morning I did a search on Google for “Sarah Palin” AND (”Vice President” OR VP) and came up with 80,900 results. Then I did a search on Daily Kos and MyDD for “Palin” - and only found 1 … that’s right … 1 result for stories that even mention the idea of Sarah Palin for Vice President on MyDD. In that story, Palin is quickly dismissed by author Jerome Armstrong as being “too young”.

As proof that people need to be looking at Governor Palin - CQ Politics just closed up their “VP Madness (Republican Edition)” and Governor Palin made it to the finals, losing to Mike Huckabee after beating the likes of Jindal, Perry (Gov-TX), and Brownback (Sen-KS).

A lot of people have been saying that McCain needs to pick someone younger (hence, one reason for Jindal’s name being tossed around). Normally, I would disagree. By having a running mate who is much younger (Jindal is about half McCain’s age) - it make McCain look to much like “ol’ grandad”, it only accentuates that he is the oldest major candidate in American History to run for a first-term Presidency. Also, a running mate who is too tall (Romney is 6′2″) - would accentuate McCain’s shorter stature and perhaps give a perception of frailty. And by having someone like Crist, though youngish, with white hair - continues the perception of the GOP as the white, old man’s party.

What could be the answer? Well - Governor Sarah Palin is one such answer and Democrats should be keeping an eye on this possibility. Why?

• She’s young. At age 44 (born February 1964), Governor Palin offers the youth and vitality to the ticket that people have talked about. However, by being a woman, she softens McCain’s image instead of giving him that “get off my lawn, you dang-gummed kids” old guy look. Also, here’s where I am looking at Hollywood stereotypes - she would add to McCain’s image of vitality and vigor (think of all the movies made with older men and younger women in lead roles … Hollywood knows what sells). Is my Hollywood hypothesis shallow and a little demeaning? Yes - I’m not saying that I agree with the concept - just that it is a perceptual reality.
• She’s a highly popular Governor. With approval ratings in the mid-80’s - Governor Palin has stood against corruption in Alaska government. In fact, in 2004 she resigned a post in protest against the lack of ethics in other Alaskan Republican leaders. Palin defeated seating Governor Frank Murkowski in the primary in 2006. She, too, is considered a maverick in her own party. She’s sold the state owned private jet of the previous administration - got rid of the “11 mile gravel road to nowhere” - and continues to cut waste in the state budget.
• I know Alaska isn’t huge, electorally. However, with Governor Palin - McCain gets a boost in the Pacific Northwest where he has indicated he intends to be competitive. Washington State and Oregon would be very inclined to have “one of their own” as Vice President. Also, she was born in Idaho, which might help keep Montana in the Republican stronghold where Democrats have been making strong gains.
• She’s a former beauty queen. I know this will sound shallow again - but what sounds more “American” than electing a war hero and beauty queen to office? But Governor Palin isn’t a skin-deep persona. She’s a former high school basketball champion, she hunts (NRA member), Bachelors degree in journalism, former re-elected mayor of Wasilla, has served on a lot of commissions and boards in Alaska and is an active marathon runner.
• Her Family. If Norman Rockwell were alive today - her family would be in every one of his works. She’s married to husband Todd (a commerical fisherman on the North Slope) who is a three-time “Iron Dog” champion. Her son, Track, is serving in the US Army. They have three daughters - Bristol, Willow, and Piper. In April 2008, she gave birth to their fifth child, Trig Paxson Van Palin. Trig was born with Down’s Syndrome, which Sarah and Todd knew before he was born. Normally, a new birth would be considered a hindrance to campaigning and holding office. But many women have proved this not to be true, including Governor Palin. Her water broke just before giving a 30-minute speech in Texas. She completed the speech, flew back to Alaska, gave birth to Trig, and was back working in the Governor’s Office three days later.
  
  
  Also, the Vice Presidency would give Governor Palin the ability to work on children’s heath care and the diagnosis and care of children with special needs. A bully-pulpit for American babies and children.
• Governor Palin is anti-choice (or pro-life, if you prefer). This is one of the litmus tests McCain has already stated for a running mate. Many will say, “well, there goes the independent women vote and other cross-over women voters.” Remember, a many strong Clinton supporters are not pro-choice. And if some supporters were looking to have a strong woman in office, they may step back on the pro-choice stance in order to vote for a self-made, strong, vital, maverick of a woman to become the Vice President who would be “just a heartbeat away” from the Presidency.
• Governor Palin is considered gay-friendly. Though she opposes same-sex marriage, she did veto a bill that would have barred state benefits to same-sex couples. Now, this may hurt McCain with evangelicals - but with Bob Barr and others contemplating a third party bid - he may have already lost most of them. This would be his chance to help attract more centrists to his side from an Obama ticket.

Governor Palin has already indicated in April at a Texas Forum (where her water broke) that she would accept an invitation to be McCain’s running mate. So, she’s interested and she’s interesting.

Barring something catastrophic to the Obama campaign, Senator Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee for President. If Senator Clinton doesn’t end up as his Vice Presidential running mate - Obama needs to strongly evaluate other leading women contenders. Governor Janet Napolitano (AZ) and Governor Kathleen Sebelius (KS) are just two

With 80,900 Google results that talk about Governor Palin and the Vice Presidency, but only 1 between Daily Kos and MyDD, combined - maybe Democrats (and the MSM) have been too focused on the Democratic Primary and not on the real objective … the election in November.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 23rd, 2008 at 11:11 and is filed under 2008 Cycle, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Sarah Palin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.