This Is a Defense of John McCain's Choice of Sarah Palin?
All I can say is that Noah Millman has been into the 'shrooms again:
RU Experienced?: [Sarah Palin is] totally unqualified to be President at this point in time. If McCain were to die in February 2009, I hope Palin would have the good sense to appoint someone who is more ready to be President to be her Vice President... [and then] then resign.... Palin is absolutely not ready to be President now, but that is a problem that is very easily dealt with if she is and the governing party want to do so. And if McCain dies in February, 2012, who’s to say she won’t be ready by then? She’ll have had three years of being Vice President under her belt. She’ll have been a close observer of national governance and will be pretty familiar with the issues of the day....
Bottom line: the Presidency is no place for on-the-job training. But the Vice Presidency certainly can be.
She’s an excellent choice. If McCain wins, he’ll have a whole cabinet of officials to help him run the government and advise him on vital decisions. That’s not what he’ll be using Palin for.... [T]his is a good pick.
Will Palin be the next Quayle or the next Eagleton? She's a horrible choice but then the Republicans still have time to re-select. Either way - McCain really look foolishness.
Posted by: pgl | August 30, 2008 at 04:14 AM
Wasn't Geena Davis in a TV show with this exact plot?
Except she was a competent Democrat/Independent who the Republican governor wanted on the ticket to attract the moderate vote, as opposed to the wingnut vote.
Maybe the meme should start up that if McCain dies soon after taking office, she should resign in favour of the next in line of succession.
That would be Nancy Pelosi. Who could argue she would be a less experienced choice?
Posted by: here in europa | August 30, 2008 at 09:08 AM
Yes, Phil Gramm will be there to keep her informed ;-)
Posted by: Lord | August 30, 2008 at 10:37 AM
From the update: "But some form of tokenism is the norm rather than the exception in VP picks. Most VPs are picked for political reasons, not because they would be good potential Presidents."
So Kennedy, Nixon (with Ford), Ford (1976, judgment questions notwithstanding), Reagan (1980), Clinton (1992), and Kerry all picked their VP candidate NOT because they knew the voters thought they "would be good potential Presidents"?
Posted by: Ken Houghton | August 31, 2008 at 05:35 PM