No one votes for vice president in the United States is an accepted maxim that has traditionally made all the drama surrounding a vice presidential running mate rather puzzling. It is a bit like a movie subplot that has no effect on the movie's conclusion. This year, however, following eight years of US vice president Dick Cheney essentially running the US government while President George W Bush pretended to make decisions, the choice of vice presidential running mates has taken on new significance, especially in light of Democrat Barack Obama's thin resume and Republican John McCain's age, melanoma and ignorance of the economy. Obama appears to have made a wise choice with Joseph Biden, a foreign policy expert with a very likable and, at times, gleefully politically incorrect demeanor. McCain's choice of Sarah Palin may have been shocking to Washington's political cognoscenti but it is likely to turn out to be a huge disappointment to McCain's presidential aspirations. If this is the year that US voters are truly going to reject “politics as usual,” Palin could not have been a more abysmal choice. Her inclusion on the Republican ticket smacks of a cynical and transparent attempt to woo supporters of Hillary Clinton and add a youthful face to the Republican ticket. It shows nothing of the supposed belief on the part of American conservatives that a meritocracy should characterize government and society, not to mention that whoever prevailed in making the choice missed the entire point of Clinton's run for the Democratic nomination. Palin's major political experience is as mayor of a town of 9,000 people, hardly a training ground to become president of the US in the event that McCain were to vacate the office. After two years as governor of Alaska, she has earned some credentials for cracking down on corruption and hounding oil companies to conduct their business fairly and legally in the sparsely populated state. She is being characterized as standing up to “big oil” (is there any other kind?), but oil is what gives Alaska its economy. Elk hides and arctic cruises aren't really enough to keep the state solvent. So far the occasions at which she has addressed the nation since her acceptance of the vp spot show an attractive woman with little weight of presence and a speaking voice that conveys little if any authority. This is not the strong-willed, strong-minded, informed and highly intelligent woman that Democrats voted for when they voted for Hillary. For McCain and his cohorts to think that her gender alone will attract Hillary supporters to the Republican ticket will likely to turn out to be a devastating miscalculation. Women supported Hillary not simply because she was a woman. They supported her because she was Hillary. The choice of Palin as McCain's running mate puts the question of judgment front and center in the campaign and this is not likely to reflect well on the Republican ticket. McCain still supports the tragically misguided and, ultimately, corrupt decision for the US to go to war in Vietnam, maintaining that the US only needed more troops to finish the job. He would bring the same mind set to the debacle of Iraq, a horrifying prospect. He presents himself now as a supporter of many Bush policies, a position so far afield of the majority of Americans that it is easy to wonder who he thinks he is wooing. Palin is just one more example of John McCain's bad judgment, something the US and the world should not accept. __
