McCain calls his own judgement into question.

Former Clinton political operative Paul Begala articulates a pointed critique and points out a serious problem with the Palin pick:

For a man who is 72 years old and has had four bouts with cancer to have chosen someone so completely unqualified to become president is shockingly irresponsible. Suddenly, McCain’s age and health become central issues in the campaign, as does his judgment.

This is not just spin and political posturing. This raises real issues. Begala concludes:

For months, the McCainiacs have said they will run on his judgment and experience. In his first presidential decision, John McCain has shown he is willing to endanger his country, potentially leaving it in the hands of someone who simply has no business being a heartbeat away from the most powerful, complicated, difficult job in human history.

Well said.

  • An Obama-nation

    Begala? Paul Begala?? Yeah Right Chris MC there’s a person to listen to. What does this say about Obama then? Palin’s resume is much more impressive than the Obama re-run. So by Begala’s logic and yours Chris, Obama has no qualification either, does he? He has a 2 word vocabulary of Hope & Change. Yeah, when we see how Obama is going to pay for all those wonderful things he keeps lying to us about, We will HOPE to find CHANGE in our pockets. Truth is, this pick just burried your ticket. Maybe Axelrod can find another movie that Obama can plagiarize for a response.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuB_W8o_UsU

  • An Obama-nation

    Look ! Here’s Obama’s response:

  • Chris MC

    It doesn’t say anything about Obama, it says pretty much everything about McCain:
    * He’ll stop at nothing to win.
    * His judgment cannot be trusted.
    * He’s not honest. His posturing on the question of experience was exactly that.

    Nothing straight about him and his message. He’s a Washington DC pol who is desperate because he sees it slipping away. So he picks someone who shouldn’t be on the ticket in a cynical attempt to woo women disaffected by the Obama victory and the Biden choice. Standard Republican Operation Procedure.

    More of the same.

  • An Obama-nation

    You kidding right?
    Obama will not stop at anything to win? ROFLMAO!
    Obama’s Judgement?? Here’s four words of judgement for you: Rezko, Ayers, Rev. Wright, Rev, Farakan. “nuff said about Obama’s Judgement?
    Not Honest? I don’t have enough time to right about Obama’s lies.

    Washington DC man huh? Need I post a video of ALL your wonderful Dem Heros praising McCain, including Obama re-run? And for Obama to Cry out that there need to be change in Washington, then to pick Biden who started serving in the Nixon era, when Lil’ Obama was just 11 years old, shows to me, that he is nothing but a hypocrite who will stop at nothing to get elected. You have to be dreaming to say it’s slipping away. One poll has what a 6 pt lead After the convention, the other are less than that. Get real. All the dem’s are scratching their pointed heads trying to figure out why Obama doesn’t have a 20 pt. lead. Maybe it’s because the rest of the country knows Obama is nothing more than a charleton.

  • Anonymous

    McCain, when he was fighting Bush for the nomination, was known as a “maverick” because of his independence from party dogma. Now he has embraced everything he was once against, showing me that personal ambition has trumped any integrity he once had.

    Plus, his selection of Palin only tells me how desperate he is to gain Hillary supporters owing to the mistrust his own base has in him. Didn’t Coulter once say she’d vote for Hillary before she would vote for McCain?

    Do we want someone like Palin a heartbeat away from the Presidency if the worst should happen? Can you see her as Commander-in-Chief of two foreign wars?

  • Anonymous

    Butt cheeks are clenching all up and down the GOP today. Mitt Romney, anyone, everyone, a better choice. Hope McCain has another job lined up after he gets beaten in November ’cause he ain’t gonna have too many friends left…

  • Anonymous

    Obama does not belong on the ticket! He has no experience, no foreign policy background and isn’t even as experienced as Palin. She at least has a Mayorship and Governorship under her belt while first starting at the city council level. She understands the need to use American resources instead of being beholden to foreign countries and she is not afraid to hold her own party members to the highest standards.” She practices tightening the belts of overspending and practices high standards of ethics. He has somehow made people believe he is the messiah and holds nothing more than celebrity status. an interesting statement from Obama himself ““ ‘Andy Warhol said we all get our 15 minutes of fame,” says Barack Obama. ‘I’ve already had an hour and a half. I mean, I’m so overexposed, I’m making Paris Hilton look like a recluse.’””

  • Chris MC

    Obamanation -
    Here’s the most recent electoral map. Do the math.
    McCain’s pick isn’t bold, it’s desperate.
    McCain’s choice isn’t strategic, it’s tactical.
    McCain’s selection isn’t principled, it’s cynical.
    McCain’s decision is reactive, rather than that of a leader.
    McCain’s judgment isn’t based on what is best for the country, it is a calculated attempt to energize the base in the hopes he can make up for the ground he’s been losing in the middle and with conservative Democrats who broke toward Obama with the Biden pick; and to try to counteract the excitement in the Democratic base on display in Denver this week.
    80,000 people showed up and went wild in Denver. The McCain campaign is busing them in to fill a 8,000 person auditorium.
    Do the math.

  • Publius

    Palin has 2 years of executive experience.

    Obama? Zero executive experience.

    Biden? Zero executive experience.

    Paul Begala? An old time Clinton hatchet man.

    The desperate Dems are trying to “Dan Quayle” her. Good luck. She is one tough, smart lady.

  • Anonymous

    Chris Mc-kindly tell me how the Obama Biden ticket is good for this country? Obama spends so much time admonishing the good ‘ol boy faction in Washington and he himself picked one of them. PALEEEEZE. 80,000 people swarmed the arena for Obama because they thought that maybe they could get their real candidate in place and not their 2nd choice. The BS about uniting the party is just that. In the headlines and on video we can all say what we want but there are alot of Hillary supporters who will not vote for Obama because they actually don’t like him.

  • anonymous

    I love that people are still interested in politics. But I’m sorry, I’ve been completely undecided, watching and waiting for the VP picks. I have made my choice. It is Obama all the way. I do not feel that there is any way Palin is ready or even close to qualified after spending 2 years as gov. of one of the least populated states in America. I need to feel confident that the VP is ready to take over the presidency if needed. I cannot say being a 2 year gov. qualifies you for the most important job in the world.
    I do think that women every where should be insulted that McCain would think they would vote for him and any woman he chose as a rebound from Hillary. Hillary is a seasoned politician (be that good or bad) and showed her strength of character in hanging tough through the primary for the sake of women and walking out on the convention floor to unite the democrats. Staged, probably, but easy to do after everything she has gone through, absolutely not.
    McCain lost my vote with his choice. I’ve already wondered if he gets a do-over.

  • Anonymous

    Oh and being a 2 term Senator qualifies Obama?

  • Anonymous

    Chris MC – interesting breakdown of the electoral college, even if it came from Rove & Co. What do you ascribe to the surge in electoral votes for McCain since 8/20? Will that surge continue?

    Analysts are saying that the fact that the race is so close is in Obama’s favor. Why is that?

  • Chris MC

    #13 – I don’t know the answer to the surge in electoral votes question. But if you look at his prior maps, you see that it represents a small amount of movement in the polling numbers – a few percent.

    As to what the analysts are saying, it has to do with momentum being on Obama’s side of the equation and being ahead in the electoral college.
    As that map currently stands, if Obama/Biden picks up only VA, McCain has to run the rest of the table. If McCain loses only, say, North Dakota in this circumstance, he loses by a single electoral vote.

    If Obama wins only Ohio, he wins by two electoral votes.

    That’s a lot of pressure on McCain. As it stands right now, Obama will win the popular vote irrespective of the electoral outcome.

  • An Obama-nation

    Not to burst your bubble Chris, But many of your past democratic presidential contenders had sizable leads at this point of their campaigns and lost. Obama with all the publicity, Money, convention bounce has been tied and behind by a few pts only as a few days ago. As is usual, a party will get a bounce after the convention is over. That is what you are starting to see now. However, McCain’s time started today for the next week. Fool yourself if you must, but these are oodles of Hillary voters who hate Obama and will vote for McCain. Adding a strong woman like Palin will get them a very good bounce by this time next week. Don’t forget that the questions to these canidates will get stronger now and “hope & change” & Pie in the Sky answers will not be good enough. Also Rezko will be sentenced in September, which will open up a can of worms for Obama. These are questions that he will not be able to dance around. There will be major scrutiny of Obama & McCain over the next 66 days and I’m very comfortable with McCain and his past resume than you will be with Obama. We will see. Talk to you same time next week Chris.

  • anonymous

    #12, while the numbers are both two, they mean very different things. Two years as gov. is just that – two years working in that state. Two terms as a senator equals twelve years. If you do the math, that is already ten more years experience for Obama. And as a senator, they are representing their state in Washington, learning how the system works. Making decisions that effect not only their state but every state. Not only every state but the whole world. This is evidenced daily not only in war and peace but in the global economy and conservation and preservation. There is a world of difference in what a gov. and a senator do. Go ask Rowland. You can like Rell and what she does for CT, but does that really mean you think she is ready to be President of the United States of America? Jodi has been in office for 4 years but I don’t think she is ready. And she has two years on Palin.

  • Anonymous

    For everyone who wants to check the facts for themselves, despite the bulldog-like grasp that the O-Man has on the truth:

    http://www.factcheck.org/

    http://www.PolitiFact.com

  • Joe Lieberman

    Drat!

  • dave d

    I like how 3 months ago McCain said he would pick a VP based on experience and Obama would pick one based on politics and the exact opposite has happened.

    Former Miss Alaska (1st runner up), mayor of a town of 5000 (1/4 of the population of Darien), and Governor of a corrupt state less populated than Fairfield county. Possibly will be the first VP running while under indictment. It’s a desperate grasp with zero thought given into how they would actually govern together. What long time Hillary voter is going to vote for a pro-lifer?

    She’s not even sure she knows what a VP does:

  • anonymous

    I must correct myself. I was going on the info from #12. Obama was not a US Senator for 2 terms – only since 2004. Before that he was in his state senate from 97-04. I don’t want to spread untruths. I still stand by the statements that Palin doesn’t have the experience and Obama has much more than she does – even Rell does. But I did just hear on the news that she was a beauty queen – who says looks can’t get you places! From PTA to White House in a matter of years! Is America great or what? It is truly the land of opportunity.

  • An Obama-nation

    dave d, Do you know the exact responsibilties of the Veep? The Veeps responsibilties are NOT cast in stone. They have varied from administration to addministration. I can remember from past elections, Veep prospects wanted their roles defined or increased.

    I beleive McCain scored big time by picking Palin, you don’t. It’s OK that we disagree, we will have that much more to discuss over the next two months. Time will tell. We saw Obama get a small bounce in one poll today, the others not so much, this time next week the Republicans will have their Shin Dig and we’ll see where their bounce brings them.

    As for Palin bring a pro-lifer, we’ll see that too. I think already somewhat 20% of women Hillary voters are voting for McCain before this pick. We’ll see the polls later in the week if you or I am right. Have a good Holiday weekend.

  • Charles the Hammer

    Obama likes to stay fit by shooting hoops. McCain was a collegiate boxer and lifelong devotee of the sport. This fact is a window on McCain’s mindset and style:

    Jab. Probe. “I don’t know how many houses I own.” Feint. “Want to talk about buying houses Barry?” Rezco, Rezco. Body blow. Body Blow. Duck. Slip. Counter-punch…”Palin is so inexperienced.” “Let’s talk about experience my friend.” Cross. Uppercut.

    Running down Palin for being governor of a thinly populated state? Delaware, Delaware. Body blow. Body blow. Beating up on an attractive woman as if she can’t also be competent? Oh call the cut man. The Hillaryites in the expensive seats want a standing 10 count…1,2,3,4…Clintons leaving the bout early to beat the traffic…in the tunnel Biden laments…”I couldah been a contendah.”

  • An Obama-nation

    Charles!!! Where you been? Thanks for a wonderful play by play. I feel as though I had a ring side seat. Charles you are a poet. Call the Pulitzer committee!

  • anonymous

    Obama-nation, it’s not the VP duties that McCain assigns Palin that concerns me, it is in the unfortunate event that something should happen to McCain and Palin would have to be the Pres. That is the part that scares me. When voting, I have to vote with a confidence that the VP would be able to step into that position. You can’t say that she could be groomed because it has happened in the past that there hasn’t been time for that. Remember that William Henry Harrison died one month after his inauguration.

    But I do have to add that today is quite historic because no matter who wins we will either have our first woman or first African American in the White House. I’d say that is a victory for all America!

  • Anonymous37

    Andrew Sullivan has an awesome post about the error of comparing Palin to Obama:

    “It occurs to me that some on the right actually think that Obama is as inexperienced and as trivial a figure as Palin. So ask yourself: could Sarah Palin have run a national election campaign against, say, a machine as powerful as the Bush family, and won? Does she have the skill set to construct a campaign that would actually have brought her to the nomination herself? I find the comparison with Obama ludicrous. But it will be made. Palin looks to me like a lovely person and a good local politician, with some inevitable rough spots. I’d be delighted if she took a leadership role in the GOP in the future. But in the same league as Obama? Do Republicans really think that little of him?

    I guess they do. We are looking at a different person.”

    http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/08/experience-agai.html

  • anonymous

    Great point Anonymous37 – she would have been no where on her own – not even on a stage for a debate. I do feel sorry for her and her family because they look like a wonderful family and I don’t think they had time to discuss the ramifications of being dragged through the mud like they are about to be, because we all know national politics is a dirty business. Mean things will be said and I doubt up in their protected Alaska that they are used to that very much. I think it will be very hard for her children to watch.

  • Anonymous

    “I don’t have enough time to right about Obama’s lies.”

    Heck, you’re not exactly literate either, so why would we expect you to find the time to find out the truth when you’re so good accepting extremist nutjob propaganda. Meanwhile, you do have the time to waste on a blog.

    Tell us again how Obama didn’t organize community meetings on Chicago’s southside, tell us how he didn’t win over some VIP’s in the Chicago machine and gain a seat in the state senate.

    Just because you are scared of your own shadow, it doesn’t mean most Americans are dumb enough to believe your borrowed guilt by association character assassinations of Obama, or his supposed lack of experience.

    In his first term as a US Senator, Barack Obama voted against the Iraq invasion, but of course, to you, that is doing nothing and doesn’t count as experience.

    Shouldn’t you be at Dunkin Donuts, complaining about those “other” people who cut in front of you in line?

  • Anonymous

    “there are alot of Hillary supporters who will not vote for Obama because they actually don’t like him.”

    That, and they lack a consistent set of values to the extent that they trust one set of crooked politicians over another, meanwhile calling it a decision when in fact it’s an emotional reaction.

    Hillary supporters got their feelings hurt when she lost. She was everything, but when she tells the public to get behind Obama, she’s lying?

    How about 18 million haters can’t grow up? Yeah I know, God doesn’t like the Astros.

  • Anonymous

    Palin’s being used, but then, she’s a grownup. I hope that both she and McCain haven’t quit their day jobs…

  • Nonymous

    Hey, #4 – you don’t have enough time to “right” about Obama’s lies? You don’t have the brains to know that the correct word was “write.” Anyone with a 5th grade education would have stopped reading your post right there.

  • Anonymous

    #30 – Unfortunately people in the last two elections didn’t care, look at the pantload they put into office. No matter how many times the facts are presented, those with the loudest mouths seem to the ones that are perceived as the truth-tellers.

    The GOP has become the party of corrupt, conniving snake-oil salesmen. They know the American public doesn’t want to take the time to educate themselves and so foist lies and fabrications on them to engage the common desire for tabloid sensationalism.

  • Anonymous

    Did McCain consult the Norwalk BOE when deliberating his V.P. choices? The decision to select Palin sounds like the BOE at its worst.

  • Aunt Bertha

    I think Palin is a good pick. Not the best that would have been Romney. But the more I learn about Palin the more I like. I strong women with convictions she lives by. Give her some time to let her tell us about herself.

  • anono

    A shrewd political move:
    1) it firms his base, the pro-life, gun- loving right
    2) a woman who COULD appeal to those of Hillary’s 18 million still unhappy (Ferrarro’s comment won’t hurt her either)
    3) her inexperience will NOT be a problem: by contrasting it with Obama’s not Biden’s
    4) it will reinforce McCains image as a “reformer” since that is what she ran as in Alaska Eg: ethics bill/ corruption fighter
    5) it will reinforce McCains image as a maverickk; she is not an insider and is totally unexpected

    And who could not like a “hockey Mom” with 5 kids

    It’s still a close race and this choice does NOT hurt McCain!!

  • Anonymous

    Rove Flips On Qualifications For Vice Presidency, Says Palin Is Qualified For Same Reason Kaine Was Not

    Earlier this month, Karl Rove repeatedly argued that Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) would not be “capable” of being Vice President. He complained that “he’s been a governor for three years” and said Kaine was mayor of only the “the 105th largest city in America,” referring to Kaine’s tenure as mayor of Richmond, VA. “It’s not a big town,” he quipped.

    Yesterday, however, Rove argued just the opposite with regard to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R). He explained on Fox News that Palin was a good choice as McCain’s vice presidential nominee because she was “mayor of the second largest city in Alaska”:

    ROVE: She’s a populist, she’s an economic and social conservative, she took on the incumbent governor of the state Frank Murkowski — Republican — beat him in the primary, won an upset in the general election. She’s a former mayor. She’s the mayor of, I think, the second largest city in Alaska before she ran for governor.

    Kaine was indeed mayor of the ‘the 105th largest city in America.’ While there, he governed nearly 200,000 people and managed a bureaucracy of over 8,000 employees. By contrast, Palin was mayor of Wasilla, AK, a town of just over 8,000 people that currently employs just over 100 individuals and — contrary to Rove’s claim — didn’t even make it into the 10 largest cities in AK while she was mayor.

    http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/30/rove-plain-ready/

  • Anonymous

    How come most democrats proclaim they represent the “common man” and yet get an all-expense paid ride to Yale, Harvard, and Princeton and live in big houses in tony neighborhoods?
    Could they be first-class hypocrites?

  • Anonymous

    Second only to Republicans.

  • Anonymous

    Hillary touted her “middle-class” background.
    Last I checked– Wellesley, Yale, and Chappaqua are not middle-class but elite bastions.

  • Anonymous

    Hmm. So it’s OK for the nitwit-in-chief to have gone to an elite prep school and Yale but not Hillary.

    Personally, I would prefer the President to have the kind of education that such elite institutions of learning provide, instead of the good ole boy approach that’s characterized the incompetence and cronyism of the Bush administration.

    Too bad Bush wasted the opportunity at Yale but the fact that he attended just goes to show you that as long as you have the connections, any moron can grow up to be president of the USA.

  • Anonymous

    Hillary could not pass the bar exam in CT–she had to take it in Arkansas.

  • Anonymous

    At least Biden was picked based on experience. Palin was picked… drum roll, please: ta da! ON GENDER AND GENDER ALONE.

    You think if she were a man that it would still be a McCain/Palin ticket? NOT.

  • 41

    You think if she were a man that it would still be a McCain/Palin ticket? NOT.

    You been watching too much MSNBC.

  • OK lets hear the Daily Kos hate mongers start

    I AM FOR CHANGE says B Hussien Obama

    Who does he select for VP? Biden, one of the oldest Washington insiders and back room schemers that are in congress today.

    McCain picks a WOMAN, WHO DRAGGED HER STATES CROOKED POLITICIANS KICKING AND SCREAMING OUT INTO THE VIEW OF THE TAXPAYERS OF HER STATE.

    I bet those insiders don’t think she is inexperienced or weak. She also cut spending and taxes in her state to the bone, including cutting out her own expenses on PERKS that other governors took for granted.

    I can’t wait for the VP debates, let’s see if Bully Boy Biden who is known for his hot head, can upset her, or will she in so many words tell him Go F yourself?

    BIDEN = SAME OLD SAME OLD

    PALIN = CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE

    Biden had better hope that they don’t hold the VP debate out in the wilderness of ANWR, because Palin may have to just save his butt from getting lost, and having to eat his hand to survive,
    eaten by a bear, or freezing to death. He may be a BIG GUY INSIDER in Washington but he is a wimp in the REAL WORLD.

  • Anonymous

    Is that the best you can do? Re-running something you already posted? Typical.

  • 3RD TIME FOR THE REALLY THICK HEADS

    I AM FOR CHANGE says B Hussien Obama

    Who does he select for VP? Biden, one of the oldest Washington insiders and back room schemers that are in congress today.

    McCain picks a WOMAN, WHO DRAGGED HER STATES CROOKED POLITICIANS KICKING AND SCREAMING OUT INTO THE VIEW OF THE TAXPAYERS OF HER STATE.

    I bet those insiders don’t think she is inexperienced or weak. She also cut spending and taxes in her state to the bone, including cutting out her own expenses on PERKS that other governors took for granted.

    I can’t wait for the VP debates, let’s see if Bully Boy Biden who is known for his hot head, can upset her, or will she in so many words tell him Go F yourself?

    BIDEN = SAME OLD SAME OLD

    PALIN = CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE

    Biden had better hope that they don’t hold the VP debate out in the wilderness of ANWR, because Palin may have to just save his butt from getting lost, and having to eat his hand to survive,
    eaten by a bear, or freezing to death. He may be a BIG GUY INSIDER in Washington but he is a wimp in the REAL WORLD.

  • Anonymous

    The one thing about broken records is that soon enough everyone just tunes them out.

  • anonymous

    #32, you are wicked!
    #41, you are correct and that is why it is WRONG! Hillary ran because she was ready. If Palin was a man, we would not know his name today.
    I was a Hillary fan but I was undecided after she was out. I am offended that McCain thinks I am gullible enough to vote for just any woman.
    #45 I’m sure Palin won’t back down in the debates.
    And as far as Biden, I paid attention to him and he didn’t seem like a “Bully Boy.” Quite the opposite. His first wife and daughter died in a car accident and he was left to raise two little boys who admire him greatly.

  • #46 NO Actually you are wrong

    If you say the same thing over and over, even if it is all BS, sooner or later most people will start to believe it. Just take B HUSSEIN OBAMA for instance, he has BS’ed a whole lot of Lemmings.

    His broken record is “PROMISE THEM ANYTHING, UNTIL THE VOTE FOR ME.”

  • Anonymous

    “OK. YOU HAVE ME CONVINCED. I’M SWITCHING PARTIES AND GOING WITH THOSE PEPPY ALL-AMERICAN TYPES IN THE GOP, YOU KNOW, THE ONES WITH THE CAUSASIAN SURNAMES?”

  • Anonymous

    I think I just stumbled on a segment of “Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader”. The only thing missing here is…nah nah nah nah nah..I’m telling cause your a meany. WOW! I’m impressed!