# If Palin is dropped from the ticket, who should McCain replace her with? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 7, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-palin-is-dropped-from-the-ticket-who-should-mccain-replace-her-with/462490 "2008-09-07T15:48:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![A\_shameful\_cracka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@A\_shameful\_cracka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_shameful_cracka)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-palin-is-dropped-from-the-ticket-who-should-mccain-replace-her-with/462490/61 "2008-09-08T15:08:50Z")
McCain/Amahdenijad in 2008! ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-palin-is-dropped-from-the-ticket-who-should-mccain-replace-her-with/462490/62 "2008-09-08T15:10:15Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > The Supreme Leader in Iran has the power. He is commander in chief of the forces, declares war and appoints officials. > The president is limit to one term of 4 years. Ahmadinejad actually has very little power. Oh. Well, then I fear the Supreme Leader (and doesn’t that sound like something out of _Rocky and Bullwinkle_ or _Get Smart_?). But I assume he has been dictating policy to Ahmadinejad. In short, I fear the power structure in Iran more than I fear Sarah Palin, because I think it is more monolithic than our own. Palin’s power to make war, especially with a Democratic congress that has just been through the Iraq debacle, would be severely curtailed unless she did a far better job of cooking the evidence than Cheney et. al. did. And the fact is, as I understand it, we can’t do it. We could make a few airstrikes to take out nuclear development facilities, assuming we know where they are. Or we could nuke them back to the Stone Age. But we can’t go into Iran with troops; we don’t have the men or the equipment. If we nuke 'em flat, that’s it - World War III begins right there. Little as I want to see Iran have a nuclear device, it’s not worth that price. And in other news, North Korea is once again raising its arms and yelling “Hey, we have nukes over here! Pay attention to _us_. Hellooooo! _Nukes_ over here!” and once again, we appear to be so focused on the gulf region and the possibility of nukes as to be indifferent to the real ones in NE Asia. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-palin-is-dropped-from-the-ticket-who-should-mccain-replace-her-with/462490/63 "2008-09-08T15:13:08Z")
I don’t Know. Palin would have access to a lot more destructive power and if she’s the kind of fundy that thinks the end is near anyway, I would be very nervous. You can’t trust somebody who _wants_ the world to end with the power to destroy it. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-palin-is-dropped-from-the-ticket-who-should-mccain-replace-her-with/462490/64 "2008-09-08T15:31:49Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I don’t Know. Palin would have access to a lot more destructive power and if she’s the kind of fundy that thinks the end is near anyway, I would be very nervous. You can’t trust somebody who _wants_ the world to end with the power to destroy it. It’s not that easy. Commander in Chief is a highly over-rated term - a single president can not go haring off mobilizing the military or dropping nukes all by him or her self. Basically, this would take a lot of set-up, either getting a lot of people who were _really_ loyal to her in place, or persuading the people there that this was right. I don’t think either option would be easy. It’s not like you can go around appointing your bestest good buddy a general, and even SecDef and NSA have to be confirmed. Joe Blow, whose major qualification is that he grew up down the block from Palin and she trusts him to put his dick in a chainsaw for her, is not going to be confirmed. And, frankly, I don’t think Palin is that kind of religious nut case anyway. I think she’s an opportunist who has taken the Christian fundie route out of _some_ belief, but mostly because it’s worked for her. I’ll give her this much credit: she’s a pragmatist. In Alaska, the only thing she seemed to be truly fanatical about was getting her own people into positions of power. Belief systems, not so much. And as noted above, getting her own people in positions of power will be considerably more difficult at a national level than it has been in Alaska. Sad when the best thing you can say about someone is that she’s probably too close to being a crook to want to blow up the country. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-palin-is-dropped-from-the-ticket-who-should-mccain-replace-her-with/462490/65 "2008-09-08T15:36:50Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If you Pubbies are done trying to change the subject, _either answer the OP as it is written, or go elsewhere, please_. I know you find it utterly incomprehensible that there might be a chance that you won’t be handed the presidency on a silver platter, but(as has been pointed out to you several times now) people change their minds, have accidents, get sick and even die without asking permission from their constituents. If a simple “what if” situation so blows your mind, maybe you should avoid Great Debates entirely. Palin isn’t going to be dropped from the ticket, so the OP is too far-fetched to worry about. So, assuming Michelle Obama is a crack addict, and Obama divorces her between now and November, who should he marry instead? He needs a First Lady, and his kids are too young. I say Hilary Clinton. She has experience in doing the White House hostess thing, and she has child care experience from Chelsea. That would certainly shore up his support among Hilary supporters. Failing that, he could turn gay and marry Al Gore. Or Larry Craig, if he wanted to reach out to Republicans and show he could compromise. That would certainly jump-start the gay marriage issue for Obama. Or else - work with me here - _he could marry Palin_. That would take the wind out of McCain’s sails, shore up Obama’s support on the right, and add a glamor to his campaign that Biden just can’t do. Hey, it could happen. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-palin-is-dropped-from-the-ticket-who-should-mccain-replace-her-with/462490/66 "2008-09-08T15:44:56Z")
Most Americans want creationism taught alongside evolution in schools. As much as I disagree with that, I believe it’s actually a winning proposition as far as voters go. It’s one of those things that, small as it is, makes no difference in what will actually happen. She gets to voice something that most Americans want, but won’t have to actually do anything about it. I don’t expect the VP of the US to have any influence whatsoever on state school curricula. Bush, as president, made no effort to get creationism taught in schools. If he did, he certainly didn’t succeed. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-palin-is-dropped-from-the-ticket-who-should-mccain-replace-her-with/462490/67 "2008-09-08T15:48:10Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Palin isn’t going to be dropped from the ticket, so the OP is too far-fetched to worry about. > > So, assuming Michelle Obama is a crack addict, and Obama divorces her between now and November, who should he marry instead? He needs a First Lady, and his kids are too young. > > I say Hilary Clinton. She has experience in doing the White House hostess thing, and she has child care experience from Chelsea. That would certainly shore up his support among Hilary supporters. Failing that, he could turn gay and marry Al Gore. Or Larry Craig, if he wanted to reach out to Republicans and show he could compromise. That would certainly jump-start the gay marriage issue for Obama. > > Or else - work with me here - _he could marry Palin_. That would take the wind out of McCain’s sails, shore up Obama’s support on the right, and add a glamor to his campaign that Biden just can’t do. > > Hey, it could happen. > > Regards, > Shodan You can start that thread whenever you like. And if you consider it an equal likelihood that Palin is dropped from the ticket or dies and that Michelle Obama is a crack addict or dies, hey, go to town. I think the chances of either of them dying in a car accident are unfortunately higher than they should be, and that there’s a fair amount of scandal and precious little information about Sarah Palin, while Michelle Obama’s been vetted for almost two years. But start the thread if you want to look like even more of a fool than you already do. Bear in mind that the president’s choice of wife is really not the nation’s business, and many a widower has raised children. But while you’re in here, do tell, would Huckabee totally put you off if Palin were killed in a tragic head-on collision? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-palin-is-dropped-from-the-ticket-who-should-mccain-replace-her-with/462490/68 "2008-09-08T15:51:28Z")
Hillary has a law degree from Yale, has headed the Children’s Defense Fund and practiced family and children’s law for years, often pro-bono. That’s aside from her experience as a corporate lawyer. Also, she’s a two term US Senator from a state several times the size of Aaska. Sarah Palin isn’t qualified to do Hillary Clinton’s laundry. And at least Hillary doesn’t think that people used to ride around on dinosaurs. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-palin-is-dropped-from-the-ticket-who-should-mccain-replace-her-with/462490/69 "2008-09-08T15:56:37Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Hillary has a law degree from Yale, has headed the Children’s Defense Fund and practiced family and children’s law for years, often pro-bono. That’s aside from her experience as a corporate lawyer. Also, she’s a two term US Senator from a state several times the size of Aaska. Sarah Palin isn’t qualified to do Hillary Clinton’s laundry. > > And at least Hillary doesn’t think that people used to ride around on dinosaurs. Well, no, I’d think Palin is qualified to do Clinton’s laundry. ---
**Author:** ![A\_shameful\_cracka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@A\_shameful\_cracka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_shameful_cracka)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-palin-is-dropped-from-the-ticket-who-should-mccain-replace-her-with/462490/70 "2008-09-08T16:50:27Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Most Americans want creationism taught alongside evolution in schools. As much as I disagree with that, I believe it’s actually a winning proposition as far as voters go. It’s one of those things that, small as it is, makes no difference in what will actually happen. She gets to voice something that most Americans want, but won’t have to actually do anything about it. I don’t expect the VP of the US to have any influence whatsoever on state school curricula. Bush, as president, made no effort to get creationism taught in schools. If he did, he certainly didn’t succeed. I’d be willing to bet that most Americans would want child molesters to be tortured as part of their punishment, but that doesn’t mean our government should abandon it’s principles to accomodate them. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-palin-is-dropped-from-the-ticket-who-should-mccain-replace-her-with/462490/71 "2008-09-08T16:54:34Z")
> [@A\_shameful\_cracka](#): > > I’d be willing to bet that most Americans would want child molesters to be tortured as part of their punishment, but that doesn’t mean our government should abandon it’s principles to accomodate them. This is the problem with democracy. People do not act in enlightened self-interest. We act in immediate self-interest, and we tend to be pretty stupid about it. ETA: Our government has no existence outside of us. There is no “our government” to abandon “its principles.” We _ **are** _ our government. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-palin-is-dropped-from-the-ticket-who-should-mccain-replace-her-with/462490.md?page=3)