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McCain's "Senior Moment"
The internet prejudice that anyone over 50 has probably lost most of his or her marbles deserves all the contempt that anyone can possibly rain down upon it, but John McCain's incredibly superficial investigation of Sarah Palin before he named her as his candidate for Vice President is a "senior moment" that transcends any subsequent revelations about Governor Palin.
Sarah Palin may or may not have violated state law when she fired the commisioner of public safety in Alaska, but McCain didn't really bother to investigate:
State Senator Hollis French, a Democrat who is directing the ethics investigation, said that no one asked him about the allegations. "I heard not a word, not a single contact," he said.
"I started calling around and asking, and I have not been able to find one person that was called," [former speaker of the State House, Gail] Phillips said. "I called 30 to 40 people, political leaders, business leaders, community leaders. Not one of them had heard. Alaska is a very small community, we know people all over, but I haven't found anybody who was asked anything."
A Republican with ties to the campaign said the team assigned to vet Ms. Palin in Alaska had not arrived there until Thursday, a day before Mr. McCain stunned the political world with his vice-presidential choice.
One day to investigate someone who might wake up one day as President of the United States!
Anyone planning to vote for John McCain has to ask himself or herself what other enormously important decisions McCain would make as thoughtlessly as he chose Palin, and this is a much simpler and more vivid question than comparing the tangle of policy differences between Obama and McCain.
McCain's thoughtless and impulsive selection of Sarah Palin is the sort of senior moment when a family finally decides that Grandpa belongs in a nursing home, and it's obvious enough to millions of voters without endless analysis by pundits and other political parasites.
This is probably the moment when John McCain lost the Presidency of the United States.
Comments (4)
God, I pray so!
September 2, 2008 9:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
Rec'd. This is the line of attack that will eventually doom McCain, if liberal bloggers just stick to it.
September 2, 2008 10:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think it unfair to other seniors to label the Palin decision a "senior moment". This is bad judgment/decision making skills by John McCain.
But whatever the actual reason behind McCain's decision it makes his suitability for president highly suspect.
September 2, 2008 10:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think you may be right. And as a senior, I take no offense in your use of the term "senior moment." I do think it will come down to the voters, though. I think they'll decide on Palin first, and then on McCain's judgment. If they decide they like and trust her, they'll let the vetting process slide. They'll decide it's a "McCain moment." It's the way he is. If they decide she's a bad choice, they'll hold it against him.
September 2, 2008 11:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
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