Poole: Republicans' VP pick shattered the mold
By choosing Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain proved that he is indeed a maverick.
By Adam Poole (Contact)
Tuesday, September 9th, 2008
It’s been a time of record-making in politics. Democratic nominee Barack Obama’s historic nomination acceptance speech, delivered on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, brought in more than 38 million viewers. Last week was another historic week as Republican nominee John McCain selected the first woman to ever run as vice president on a Republican ticket.
Candidates like Obama who, before starting his campaign, were virtually unknown, usually experience quite a large bounce in the polls following their convention. In 1992, then unknown Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton enjoyed an astonishing 16-point bounce in the polls over President George H.W. Bush. But Obama’s bounce was muted by the nomination of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as the vice presidential running mate.
During the Republican convention last week, Palin gave a speech that rivaled Obama’s, bringing in just under 38 million viewers as she introduced herself to the American people. McCain’s speech brought in some 500,000 more viewers than Senator Obama’s and the most recent Gallup poll shows McCain leading Obama by four points.
The Republican convention last week was anything but conventional. Hurricane Gustav barreled toward the Gulf Coast just as the convention was supposed to kick off. While Michael Moore and other liberal activists claimed it as proof of a God who wanted Democrats to win, Republicans used their convention as an opportunity to transcend politics and help with relief efforts.
On day two of the convention, President Bush gave a speech via satellite. This might have been surprising considering that McCain had made an effort to distance himself from the president whose approval ratings are hurting. Bush called McCain as an independent thinker who is not afraid to tell you when he disagrees.
However, the most exciting part of the week was Palin. During the five days following her nomination, she faced unprecedented criticism from the media.
But she is the perfect complement to McCain. Her conservative values will mobilize the Republican base, and her youth and charisma have energized the entire nation. Some claim that she lacks experience. But she has more executive experience than any other candidate. It should be troubling to Democrats to hear their candidate claim that running his campaign has provided experience for the presidency. Is that, along with being a community organizer, really the best he’s got? I am more confident in Palin’s experience as mayor and governor to prepare her for the vice presidency than I am in Obama’s experience, especially since he is at the top of his ticket.
Americans are ready for change in Washington. If we are going to get it, we have to put our trust in candidates who actually have a record of accomplishment and who are willing to battle corruption in either party.
— Poole is a Wichita senior in political science and psychology.
Discussion
All comments are moderated by Kansan.com staff. For our full user policy, click here.
Just to correct a mistake you made, I like to consider myself part of the nation, and I am in no way ¨energized¨ by a govenor with 22 months of experience from a state younger than her running mate, with well under a million people.
Thanks,
Alex Doherty
Did anyone other than Michael Moore claim that Gustav was God's message about US politics? No, they did not, and you know that, Adam.
"The timing, at least as it appears now, is that it [Gustav] will be there Monday. That just demonstrates that God's on our side."
-Former Democratic Party Chairman Don Fowler
To his credit, he did at least apologize for his rather off-color remarks, unlike Moore.
Please don't imply that I am ever being disingenuous.
"More executive experience" is quite a phrase. A nice qualifier that hides the fact that she was mayor of a town of 7,000 and governor of a state lacking substantial population. Sarah Palin terrifies me. Not as a liberal (I'm very moderate), but as a citizen. And I'm not scared for now so much as 4 years from now when she could be leading the ticket if McCain is elected. Closed-minded and two-faced (Bridge to Nowhere) candidates energize me to vote Libertarian.
Ha. This article is a complete joke. Where are the facts? For example, what has Sen. McCain accomplished? How has Gov. Palin fought corruption? Since the author glibly wrote a cute little conclusion without providing ANYTHING to support his claims, I'll provide him with some. For example, Gov. Palin was actually FOR the bridge to nowhere before she was against it, and she also accepted the money even though she ended up going against it. Her amazing executive experience? Not so much. She hired a lobbyist for a town of a few thousand at the time. She then went on to get 27 million dollars in earmarks for aforementioned little town. And even with all that money, she ended up leaving a previously debt-free town 22 million in debt. Is THAT the sort of "maverick" you want? What about Sen. McCain? Hey, did you know he was a POW? Yeah. That's about all I got from the RNC. He barely touched on what he was GOING to do, or what he has ACCOMPLISHED besides the embarrassingly simplistic "drill baby drill" and heroic yet not so relevant POW experiences, respectively. And how people who agree with the architect of the disastrous last 8 years (well, i don't know about palin...where does she stand on the issues? oh, that's right...mccain has her carefully sheltered from the big bad media while she is furiously schooled in policy matters) can say they will bring about "change" in Washington is ludicrous. Obama is right. McCain and Palin think the American population is stupid. I certainly know of one person who fits that description...
Grace-
Seriously? Are you really ignorant enough to not know what John McCain has done? Well lets start simple: he has passed two major pieces of bi-partisan legislation. One dealt with climate change, its called McCain-Liberman, maybe you've heard of it? The second was a bill that changed campaign finance laws. That one is called BCRA, or McCain-Feingold. He also had an immigration reform bill with Ted Kennedy that died in committee. So to sum up, McCain has a history of 1) actually writing legislation while serving in the Senate and 2) doing it with members of the opposition party.
What has Obama done?
And while I doubt McCain and Palin think the American population is stupid, in your case they'd be right.
Share your 2¢
Requires free registration.