Northern Underexposure
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on September 2nd, 2008 4:28 am by HL
Northern Underexposure
ST. PAUL, Minn. — By all rights, there should be a revolt at this week’s Republican convention against John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate — for the very same reasons so many Republicans opposed President Bush’s selection of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court. Palin is, if anything, less qualified for the vice presidency (and the presidency) than Miers was for the court. But there is one big difference: Palin passes all the right-wing litmus tests, which means she is unlikely to suffer Miers’ fate.
How Palin Could Help
ST. PAUL, Minn. — This one was really different. John McCain has flummoxed the leaders of his Republican Party and most of the media by picking Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. It’s a choice no other candidate conceivably could have made — a typical McCain gamble, unpredictable in its consequences. The least plausible part of the McCain camp’s scenario for Palin is the hope that she will help capture dissident Hillary Clinton voters. If my reporting in New Hampshire and Colorado is right, there were fewer of those voters — even before the Democratic convention in Denver — than polls had suggested. After Bill and Hillary Clinton’s endorsements of Barack Obama, the number shrank further, and those liberal women are not likely to be attracted to a hard-right conservative such as Palin.
