It seems curious to me (as per the NY Times story) that McCain was pushing (hard, apparently) for his pal Joe Lieberman to be VP but got told that the pro-life right-wingers wouldn’t accept it, so he chose Palin instead.
Isn’t McCain the head of the party? Isn’t he basing his entire campaign on his personal integrity, on his not adhering to the party line, on his independence from Washington insiders, party hacks, and politicians in general?
What the hell kind of maverick caves in to demands that he reject his own choice as running mate?
I have no use for Lieberman, mind you, and think Palin’s not much worse (for different reasons) than he is as a candidate, but that’s not the point here. If I’m an independent person of integrity, and I’ve decided to run with somebody, and I’ve got the power to make my carefully considered announcement this afternoon, aren’t I making that announcement, whatever my fellow Republicans tell me? Isn’t rejecting his own judgment in favor of the party bosses a strong signal that McCain’s not much of a maverick after all?
What makes you think McCain has all this power? Do you remember the beginning of the primary season [no? I don’t either…McCain who??] No one thought McCain would make it this far. I certainly didn’t.
He’s a marrionette, problem is, he cut his own strings and chose Palin, see what happens when you let a dog off a leash?
You could view it doing what he thinks is the best thing overall for his party despite his personal preferences. However, whether she really is their best choice is highly questionable in my mind.
So far I don’t think they’ve been getting the kind of attention that they desired.
Do you think that Obama picked Biden, or rejected Hillary, over his own judgment? As I understand the Times article, that’s exactly what Mccain did in picking Palin.
I’m wondering which other VP picks in the past have been selected OVER THE CANDIDATE’S OWN WISHES, and am coming up empty. I undertand the stock defense, "You never find out about such secret deliberations, but that’s nonsense. I’ve read more (and more versions) of what went on in that L.A. hotel the day JFK picked LBJ for VP than I’ve read the sports pages in my lifetime. I’m eagerly awaiting some pissed-off tell-alls from deep inside the McCain campaign when this is over, but until then, what do you think?
I think I’ve lived in this country long enough to see Washington insiders get flushed down the toilet and then placed into political high office. This country is at it’s lowest point in a long time in my opinion, and if McCain chose Palin over other more qualified candidates then that is a blunder he is going to have to live with. It is a blunder but not an unexpected one.
Basically, I expect the republican party to pick the candidate no one thought they could pick and then defend defend defend until they are moderately accepted or they “mysteriously” step down.
I think they decided to punt. They didn’t have anyone with enough appeal (or they’d have chosen that person) so they played the skirt card in hopes that there were real voters who were drawn to gender rather than qualifications.
I still don’t think he would have gone along with this unless he really thought he could win. They may have pushed, but he still had the option of shoving. They wouldn’t change their nominee at this late date. I think he can be held accountable for this choice, even if he didn’t come up with the idea himself.
I think this goes beyond that choice. The talking boys, said that this Republican platform was the most conservative ever. That Abortion is the number one issue for them and that the party set the platform. McCain is just a figure head now.
In constrast Obama changed the platform to add some and language (i don’t remember exactly what) that allowed pro-choice democrates to feel that their opinion was welcome in the party.
That tells me that McCain will do whatever the party tells him to do, regardless of this Maverick image they are trying to depict him as…he just wants to win.
I think Chuck Todd of MSNBC asked one of the Republican talking heads, if the John McCain of 2000 would have let the party dictate to him…I don’t think we got an answer.
The contention that McCain was “ordered” to pick Palin and “ordered” to drop his first picks is way overblown. McCain can pick anyone he wants. He wasn’t ordered to drop Leiberman, he was advised that if he picked a pro-choice running mate the so-called “base” would desert him. Which is true. And he was told that if he picked a staunch pro-life running mate the base would piss their pants with happiness and have the excuse to forget about that “maverick” unpleasantness. Which is true.
“Ordered” is definitely a loaded word. I think he was under serious pressure from the right side of his party to pick an anti-abortion person. I just can’t gather, for the life of me, why Ms. Palin.
A close examination of McCain’s career shows that his reputation as a “maverick” is a media creation that bears no resemblance to reality. As such, the whole premise of this thread is nonsense.
A floor fight is a nasty thing, and wouldn’t be good for the party or McCain’s chances of getting elected. Democrats were concerned when there was the possibility Hillary supporters would stage a floor fight - they didn’t.