McCain's Choice For VP

Well, Senator McCain is really desperate for the female vote. McCain, who turned 72 today, announced his choice for a vice-presidential running mate. He went against conventional wisdom and chose a female. That's right! McCain wants to try to sway the female voters towards his campaign. He chose Alaska's Governor Sarah Palin. She's only been a governor for about 2 years. McCain's running mate stated about a month ago that she didn't even know what the VP did.

"Larry Kudlow of CNBC’s “Kudlow & Co.” asked her about the possibility of becoming McCain's ticket mate.
Palin replied: “As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day? I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here for the rest of the U.S., before I can even start addressing that question.”

Wow! We now have a VP candidate that doesn't even know what to expect out of the job. Of course, I suppose most new VPs learn on the job to be fair. Governor Palin was once the runner up in the Miss Alaska pageant. Now that's a 1st. A beauty queen in the Executive Branch. The scary thing is, she is so inexperienced to be McCain's VP. At 72, he could have a stroke or heart attack or become incapacitated by health concerns and she would be forced to take over as the new president. Of course, one could also argue that Senator Obama is also inexperienced. Well, he has spent some time in the Senate and prior to that he spent about 8 years as a Illinois State Legislator. Prior to being governor, Palin's only elected position was that of mayor to a town with a population of 6,500. Yikes!! I'm not sure that her experiences in such a small town would prepare her to take over as president should something ill befall McCain if he wins.

Of course, I don't believe you have to be a career politician to be president. I won't totally slam the Governor for her lack of experience. She has been a reformer. I did read some things about her that I like. I just don't like the idea that McCain passed over some well qualified individuals to select a woman. I believe he is hoping to garner some of Senator Hillary Clinton's unhappy supporters. I would hope that those who would have supported Clinton will realize that supporting McCain for the sole purpose of his choice of a female running mate is completely inappropriate. The values that most supporters of Hillary are certainly not the values of this conservative anti-abortion governor.

Heck, Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, who is 88, is a staunch liberal. I believe the only reason he hasn't retired yet is that he doesn't want the court to be stacked even heavier with conservative Justices. We need to balance out the court, thus we need Obama to win in November.

I feel that this move by McCain could potentially hurt Obama. A person's race or gender should not be the motivating factor in why a person supports a candidate or their running mate. I originally supported Hillary and I'm a male. Now I'm supporting Obama and I'm white. I am supporting Obama because he comes closest to my views than does McCain. I would like to believe that the majority of women can be logical and support a candidate because of the principles he campaigns on. I certainly hope we do not have a huge number of independent women or worse yet, Democratics women choose to support McCain just to be able to get a female elected as the 1st female vice-president.

I am going to be anxiously following the next 67 days of the campaign trail. Obama needs to really bring out his magic. He is truly a charismatic leader. His charisma coupled with his real plans for change need to permeate the airwaves. I am now very nervous that McCain's selfish choice of a woman to garner female support may really hurt Obama.

Presidential Election 2008

Are there other voters out there who aren't really enthuised about this year's elections? I know 1 of my online friends as well as some family members have expressed that they are not impressed by either of the presumptive candidates. I was a supporter of Senator Hillary R. Clinton. When she was unable to defeat Senator Barack Obama in the primaries, I felt a sense of hopelessness well up within me. I don't think Obama has what it takes to defeat Senator John McCain this November. Like many, I praise McCain for his valiant service to our country during Vietnam. For the years of torture he endured after his US Navy plane was shot down and he was captured, I commend him for never breaking and always keeping faith. The fact that during McCain's time in the Senate, he has sometimes chosen to go against the GOP and vote with the Democrats is something I also like about him. However, I feel if America elects McCain in November, it will be like 4 more years of a Bush administration. In an effort to win the support of conservative Christian voters, McCain has pandered to his audiences and appeared to be more conservative than his voting record would support. I could have supported Guilliani or Ron Paul or Hillary Clinton this year without worries. I am now supporting Obama but he was never my choice for president this year. The fact is, I'm only supporting Obama because I can't stand the thought of having McCain in office for the next 4 years. There are social issues that need to be addressed that will not be under a McCain administration.

My own family is split in their decision as to who they will support for president this fall. My mother and baby sister will be supporting Senator McCain. My father, step-mother, oldest sister, 1 niece and I will be supporting Senator Obama. Another sister and niece are considering not voting at all in November because they do not like either candidate. This would have been this particular niece's 1st presidential campaign that she would be old enough to vote in. It's sad that now at least 2 members of my family will probably not be voting at all. I do have to nephews who are old enough to vote but they are not registered to vote sadly.

McCain's choice for VP will be an important issue too. Most reasonable people can come to the conclusion that McCain (if he wins) will only be a 1-term president due to his age. His party will want him to choose a candidate that can run and win an election in 4 years from now. I'm sure McCain will choose someone who is conservative (or in Mitt Romney's case, a neo-conservative).

The nation needs change and this much most everyone can agree on. I guess it will all boil down to who America really believes will bring about significant change.