John McCain thinks so little of the political process of electing a president that he chooses as a running mate someone he only met once and because she is a woman.
The only reason he chose her is to ‘reach out’ to the disenfranchised Hillary followers. Which in itself shows how little importance he puts in people’s core political beliefs. He thinks that a female voter will vote for any party’s nominee as long as that nominee is a woman, regardless of political leanings.
Alaska Governor Sarah “Barracuda” Palin matches his pro-life belief and has also been branded a “maverick”, a term which he desperately wants to hang on to in spite of being a Bush clone.
McCain passed over several unquestioningly more qualified individuals with much more political experience. Tom Ridge, a decorated combat hero, a Cabinet secretary and the former two-term governor of the large, complex state of Pennsylvania. Mitt Romney, who has shown clear leadership skills in running a big state, Massachusetts; a big company, Bain Capital; and a big event, the Olympics.
He passed over Joe Lieberman, who matches his views on the Iraq War; Rob Portman, former congressman, trade negotiator and budget director; and Mike Huckabee, the governor of Arkansas.
McCain’s followers were counting on his judgment and experience to win this election. They have now been shown some insight into what to expect if he becomes president. He is willing to plunge this country into near anarchy, in the event of his death, by leaving it in the hands of someone who simply has no business being in that position. The presidency of the United States is the most powerful, complicated, difficult job in human history.
This brings up the issue of ethics. She is considered strongly ethical. As governor, she won praise for backing tough ethical standards for politicians. During the first legislative session after her election, her administration passed a state ethics law overhaul. Yet a legislative investigation is looking into allegations that Palin fired Alaska's public safety commissioner because he refused to fire the governor's former brother-in-law, a state trooper. She denied wrongdoing.
But she lacks experience on national political issues, foreign policy and homeland security.
As badly as ethical change is needed in Washington politics, this single issue cannot be enough upon which voters should place their confidence. Our votes are worth much more than that.
Does John McCain have the best interests of this country at heart? I think the final answer has to be, no, he does not. He is focused on slowing down his opponents campaign, still high on this weeks Obama-fest in Denver, and he has chosen a woman running mate toward that end.
The presidential race is so much more prestigious than a popularity contest, and yet this latest decision shows McCain is more concerned with ‘winning votes’ than with winning voter confidence to become president.
No comments:
Post a Comment