Second-Guessing the Vice-Presidential Pick

[RedEarth]

Last week, Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor, said that Senator John McCain might now be on the verge of winning Pennsylvania — the mainly Democratic state where Mr. McCain is investing considerable time and energy in these final days of his presidential campaign— had he chosen Mr. Ridge as his running mate.

Senator Lindsay Graham, the senator from South Carolina and one of Mr. McCain’s closest friends and advisers, has in recent days been quite direct in saying that he counseled Mr. McCain to choose Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut for the second spot. Mr. Lieberman, he said, would have been a breakthrough choice, winning Mr. McCain plaudits and support from independent voters who are weary of partisanship.

Mr. McCain may still win the election. Still, anticipating that he will fall short, the pre-postmortems have already begun, both inside and outside his campaign headquarters. And without question, the biggest one is whether he would have been in a better position today had he not chosen Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running-mate.

The answer, in the view of many Republicans and Democrats, is almost certainly yes.


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/27/us/politics/27web-nagourney.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

[mwb970]

1. It was his Mondale Moment. /nt

[Warpy]

2. If there are any active brain cells left among the RNC

bigwigs, perhaps they'll finally see that the days of having the CNP as the major party power broker are over. That paranoid gaggle of Christofascists and rabid social program haters has been responsible for such wonderful choices as first Stupid and now Palin. They are the ones who've overseen the transition of the GOP from a political party to a multistate racketeering organization dedicated to the theft of elections--it's gawd's will, after all.

A real landslide this time will cause that party to start examining itself, although it won't cause them to discard the dogma that's been proven false so many times. Perhaps they'll revisit Reagan's deal with the devil and push the CNP back to the lunatic fringe where they belong.

I would love to go back to the days when the GOP was decent enough, just wrong about everything.

[Wilber_Stool]

3. Oops, I thought it said prick. Never mind.........n/t

[ramapo]

4. Palin was a gift

My wife was very worried upon hearing of the selection. She thought Palin would get much of the disgruntled Hillary vote and help McCain to victory. I thought the selection was a joke and was relieved that McCain didn't pick Ridge or Lieberman. I think either would've made for a formidable ticket.

I have to admit I was a bit nervous for a week or two but was confident that Palin was just an empty suit. She quickly proved me correct. No doubt she revitalized McCain's campaign but she all but insured his defeat.

It still amazes me that some otherwise basically intelligent people that I know just don't see a problem with her. People's brains sure work differently.

[tbredbeck]

5. Agreed....

Ridge or Lieberman would have made for a much more competitive race. I was worried about those as well. Palin was, in my view, a wild ass mistake from the start. Her views were all so far to the right of McCain it didn't make any sense at all.

I admit that I did breath a little easier after the Couric interview, however.