McCain selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Who, you ask?
Governor Sarah Palin -- a first-term governor -- who had to ask what a vide president does before giving her answer. She is a 44-year old woman who began her political career in 1992 with a successful run for the city council in Wasilla, Alaska. In 1996 she beat out the incumbent to become mayor of that city of just over 6,000 residents.
Next up was an unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor followed by an appointment as an Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commissioner. In 2006 she defeated the sitting governor in the Republican primary, then defeated the former governor in the general election. She is Alaska's youngest governor, and its first female governor.
Why, you ask?
That is probably the second most asked question today. The answers are probably many, but the most likely answer is to reach the female Democrats who feel left out by the loss of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to being their presidential candidate, and the eventual snub of her as a possible running mate for Democratic nominee Barack Obama.
But even in an attempt to pander to the Democrats specifically, and women in general, is this the best the Republicans can put before the people of America? When a person has to ask what the vice president of the United States "does," shouldn't that be an indication to look in another direction ... not laugh and keep plowing forward? Was she absent the day the duties of the Executive Branch of our government were taught in Civics class?
Other women to consider, you ask?
Yes, there are other women out there McCain could have selected. Let's hope he at least looked at those other women. Here are a few.
Let's start first with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Yes, she would be pegged as a hold over from the Bush Administration, but look at her list of credentials ... Secretary of State, National Security Advisor, doctorate in political science, has sat on the Board of Directors of large corporations, and probably knows the duties of a vice president.
What about Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Her name had been mentioned over the past few weeks. She's got a MBA from the University of Maryland, and a Masters degree in management from MIT. She was also named #1 in Fortune magazine's first listing of the most powerful women in business.
Did he consider Senator Elizabeth Dole? She is the former Secretary of Labor, former Secretary of Transportation, former Federal Trade Commission member, and former President of the American Red Cross. She did graduate work at Oxford University before earning a Masters and law degree from Harvard. She worked in the Lyndon Johnson White House, as well as the administrations of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush.
Was Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison pondered? She is the first woman to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate. She is the senior female Republican senator, was named one of the top eight female politicians would could possibly be elected President in 2008 by TheWhiteHouseProject.org, and is considered a possible candidate for the governorship of Texas.
And he picks Palin, you ask?
Could it be that she has done so little, she almost has no past ... making her the political version of the late Princess Diana of England ... who had to be a virgin to marry the future King of England?
Palin is a former television news and sports reporter, who is also a former beauty queen. She is the mother of five children ranging in age from 18 to four months. Her oldest -- a son -- is serving in the military. Her youngest -- a son -- has Down's syndrome and was born after she became governor. Palin's husband -- Todd -- spends his summers as a commercial fisherman, works for an oil company in a non-managerial position, and is a world-champion snowmobiler.
Her selection -- whether good or bad -- will help with some female voters, and with the evangelicals/conservatives who favor her pro-life stance. Picking Palin also did what it was McCain needed ... taking the focus off Obama and the Democrats and giving McCain a bump in the polls.
Governor Palin may be charming, unique, a great mom, a fiesty fighter for clean government, and a woman comfortable in the man's world of hunting and commercial fishing. But is she qualified to be a heart-beat away from the most powerful job in the world ... a heart-beat away from a man who -- if elected -- has battled cancer and is over 70-years-old?
The McCain-Palin ticket certainly isn't the Republican Party A-Team.
" ... or so this news junkie thinks!"
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