Leftish bloggers have been ranting for months about how John McCain is really crazy and people should be scared of him. I haven't paid much attention for two reasons. First, I'm not an American, so as long as someone reasonably competent non-ideologue gets elected, I don't really care who it is. Second, most leftish bloggers are as idiotic as most rightish bloggers. But this time, they may have been right.
I don't get to vote in US elections, but the election has a big impact on Canada's politics and economy. So it matters. For the first time, it seems possible that there could be a worse President than George Bush. And by worse, I mean more incompetent. And this is an incredibly incompetent decision. The woman hasn't enough experience to run a mid-sized city. After less than 24 hours, enough dirt on her has already surfaced to threaten her hold on the nomination. She will be gone by the end of next week and McCain will look a lot dumber than George McGovern looked in 1972.
Picking her is the dumbest decision I have ever seen in modern American politics. Worse than Dan Quayle, worse than Tom Eagleton. Worse than Larry Craig's wide stance or Wilbur Mills' drive past the tidal basin. Worse than Ed Muskie's tears, worse than Carter's rose garden strategy. This is supposed to be the big leagues. World's biggest economy. World's biggest military. Nukes. Nobody should be able to get to where McCain has gotten and then make such an error. You are supposed to have people who protect you from this kind of thing.
Politics is a profession after all. There are skills. These skills help you be successful and avoid career killing errors. Unless its someone like Lyndon Johnson (and you need to steal the election), the VP pick can't help you much, but can hurt you plenty. It's like baseball. You play the odds and get someone safe. Just look at the exposure this creates. After attacking Obama's lack of experience, McCain has picked someone with no national experience at all. Skirting with ethical issues himself, he picks someone who's under investigation for an amateur abuse of power. McCain's age and health guarantees that his VP pick is going to get a lot more scrutiny than usual. Its not just bad politics, its stupid politics. He's given Obama the greatest election slogan in history. "Do you want Sarah Palin answering the phone at 3am?" The only answer a sane adult would give to that question is, "no fucking way".
