ST. PAUL
IF they hadn’t finally started giving male names to hurricanes, the only thing anyone would be talking about here at the GOP convention would be women. Gustav is shaking up the Republicans’ schedule, but Sarah Palin has brought the party back to life.
In picking the Alaska governor as his running mate, John McCain made a high-risk, high-reward move.
She might fall on her face in the glare of the national media – in which case, McCain is toast. But if she doesn’t, she’ll be a huge plus for the ticket.
The national media glare can overwhelm candidates who haven’t been exposed to it before. In 2000, Gen. Wesley Clark stepped in it on the second day of his presidential campaign when he told The New York Times that he would’ve supported the congressional resolution that authorized the Iraq war, even though he had fashioned himself as a major war critic. It was just the first of many misstatements. He went from riding the top of the polls to flaming out.
Palin’s challenge is to avoid any major gaffes that give the media the excuse to expand on its narrative-in-the-making that she’s a ditzy beauty queen from Nowheresville who was only chosen because of her ovaries.
Yes, being a woman was a factor in the choice – but fully in keeping with the way smart veep picks are always made: She energizes the ticket with the whiff of change and could attract disgruntled Hillary voters. And now the Democratic ticket isn’t the only one that can lay claim to making hsitory.
But she also goes a long way to reconciling the party’s base to McCain, while also restoring his standing as a maverick and a reformer – an image critical to attracting independent voters.
Palin is a true-blue conservative, but also has a record of taking on her own party. And she’s a religious conservative – with a beautiful Down’s syndrome baby (in a country where 90 percent of such babies are aborted).
The rest of her personal story is just as compelling: a working mother with five kids (one on the way to Iraq) and a husband in the Steelworkers Union. She’s gorgeous and feminine but she hunts and fishes. She’s charismatic and a good speaker. She’s the kind of woman you’d like to have a beer with.
She has energized a gloomy Republican Party in a way that none of the other picks – Tom Ridge, Joe Lieberman, Tim Pawlenty or Mitt Romney – would have. The McCain ticket desperately needed energy. The excitement for Palin is palpable.
Negatives? Well, there’s a scandal involving the firing of her brother-in-law from the state troopers. The national news media has found this far more fascinating than it ever did Obama’s dealings with the slumlord Tony Rezko. Rezko was a blip for Obama; Palin’s scandal will become a test of her integrity.
What of the claim that McCain’s pick undermines his assertion that experience is what matters in a president?
Hmm: Palin isn’t running for president; she’s running for vice president. Last time I checked, John McCain isn’t dying. And if experience is your worry, there’s plenty to worry about on the opposing ticket if, God forbid, something happens to Joe Biden.
Dems have been comparing Palin to Joe Biden and laughing derisively at the contrast. But for some reason, the comparison between Obama and McCain – who are light years apart in terms of experience – doesn’t incite the same level of concern or condescension.
I actually buy the Obama camp’s original argument that Washington experience isn’t the only thing that matters. Life experience, thoughtfulness, intellectual curiosity, a willingness to listen and learn, shared values and an ability to inspire and communicate – all count as much.
The jury is still out on Palin but the argument that Washington experience isnt the most important criteria still holds true, even if you have ovaries.
kirstenpowers@aol.com