McCain wants moose hunter in White House

By Weekly Archive On Sep 9, 2008

ST.
PAUL, Minn. — Here in the Twin Cities, as in every city and town
across America, there’s only one question on everyone’s mind: What
could possibly qualify Sarah Palin as a candidate for vice president?

The
answer was provided by former presidential candidate Fred Thompson.
"I can say without fear of contradiction," he told GOP
delegates, most of whom had never heard of Palin a week ago, "that
she is the only nominee in the history of either party who knows how
to properly field dress a moose."

Fine.
So, on your next trip to Alaska, hire her as your hunting guide. But
that’s no reason for us to hire her to stand one heartbeat away from
becoming president of the United States.

Especially
when John McCain, were he to become president at the age of 72,
would, according to actuarial life insurance tables, have only a one
in three chance of living to celebrate his 80th birthday.

Like
you, I’m sick and tired of robotic Republicans and clueless
commentators trying to spin McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin in the
most positive possible light. It’s a bold move, they say. It restores
McCain’s maverick status. It shows what an independent thinker he is.
It’s McCain’s way of winning all those disillusioned Hillary Clinton
supporters. And, besides, Palin is the only candidate on either
ticket with executive experience.

Nonsense.
It’s time for some straight talk. You’d have to be brain-dead or on
the RNC payroll to defend McCain’s pick of Palin. It’s not a bold
move; it’s a stupid move. Indeed, it’s a dangerous move. And it
saddles the already-on-life-support Republican Party with the most
unqualified vice-presidential candidate since Dan Quayle.

Desperately
trying to defend his boss’s disastrous choice, McCain campaign
manager Steve Schmidt put out a statement asserting that Palin has "a
record of accomplishment that exceeds, by far, the governing
accomplishments of Sen. Obama." Does he really believe he can
win this election by insulting our intelligence?

True,
technically speaking, Barack Obama has no "executive
experience." He’s never been mayor of a town of 5,000. Nor has
he been governor of a state with more reindeer than people. Yet for
four years as a United States senator, Obama has studied, wrestled
with, and voted on every national issue from Social Security to
health care to education. He has helped chart foreign policy from
Iraq to Georgia. And for the last 19 months, as candidate for
president, he has been grilled and spoken out on every domestic and
foreign issue there is.

How
much knowledge or hands-on experience does Sarah Palin have of any of
these issues? Zero! Unless, of course, you subscribe to the theory of
geographical proximity. As articulated by that master international
strategist Cindy McCain, since "Alaska is the closest part of
our continent to Russia," Palin is uniquely qualified to punch
out Vladimir Putin the next time he swallows up a neighboring
province or two.

Equally
laughable is the McCain camp’s attempt to paint Palin as a
"reformer." Her record shows just the opposite. As mayor of
Wasilla, she raised sales taxes to build a sports complex. She hired
a lobbyist to snare $27 million in earmarks from Washington. (Isn’t
McCain campaigning against pork?) She chaired a fund-raising
committee for indicted Sen. Ted Stevens. Her husband belonged to, and
she was active in, a campaign for Alaska to secede from the United
States. And she was for "The Bridge to Nowhere" until last
week, when she suddenly came out against it.

Most
insulting of all is the McCain campaign’s argument that Palin will
appeal to Democratic women voters still disappointed over Barack
Obama’s failure to offer Hillary Clinton the second spot on the
ticket. If that’s what McCain really believes, he just doesn’t get
it. Women supported Hillary Clinton because of her vast experience in
both domestic and foreign policy, her leadership on women’s rights,
and her positions on the issues. Anti-choice, anti-pay equity,
pro-gun Sarah Palin is no substitute for Hillary Clinton. As an
outraged U.S. Rep. Deborah Wasserman Schultz told me, women will not
support another woman just because of "her plumbing."

In
the end, what’s most troubling about the choice of Sarah Palin is not
what it says about her, but what it says about John McCain. In making
what is widely considered his "first presidential decision,"
McCain failed miserably. He didn’t do his homework, he acted
impulsively, he ignored the facts, and he exercised amazingly poor
judgment by rejecting several highly qualified candidates in favor of
a person who has quickly become a national joke.

Ironically,
the slogan of this Republican Convention, prominently displayed in
the convention hall, is "Country First." Obviously, John
McCain didn’t get the message. By proposing such a hapless candidate
for the nation’s second highest office, McCain shows that what he
believes will help his political career comes first. His country
comes last.

Bill
Press is host of a nationally syndicated radio show and author of a
new book, "Train
Wreck: The End of the Conservative Revolution (and Not a Moment Too
Soon)."
You can hear "The Bill Press Show" at his Web site:
billpressshow.com. His email address is: bill@billpress.com.