the fine line between "risky" and "ill conceived"

I have to admit, when I first heard that McCain had made Sarah Palin his running mate I thought, “Gutsy move.” No longer would the Obama campaign be the obvious choice for “change”, or “something different in Washington”. In fact, it might not even be the obvious choice for the youth vote anymore. Sarah is young, beautiful, and the opposite of nearly every politician I’ve ever seen in Washington. “He may have evened the playing field with that move”, I thought.

But upon further review…

Check out what a Republican political strategist (Ed Rollins) has to say concerning her qualities:

She is young
She is articulate
She is smart
She is tough
She is pro-life
She is a mother of 5
One of her sons is going to Iraq
Her youngest son has downs syndrome
She played on a state champion basketball team
She is a hunter
She is a pilot
She is a lifetime member of the NRA
She is blunt
She is outspoken
She is charming
She is a great debater
She was runner-up for the Miss Alaska title
She won Miss Congeniality in that contest
She plays the flute…???

Now listen, I’m open to some better qualifications coming along, but so far, not so good. This is, after all, the women second in charge to a 72 year old man who’s had cancer no less than five times! If ever there was a reason to care about a candidate’s running, mate, it’s right now! Let’s be honest. There’s a better than average chance that, should McCain win the presidency, his running mate will spend some time in charge.

McCain’s argument against Barak has been the fact that Barak has “very little experience”. Then he goes and chooses a running mate who’s been in serious politics for less than two years! What in the world…???

Admittedly, Obama’s choice for a running mate was pretty disappointing. I suppose he needed to go the safe route, and another old white guy certainly fit that bill. But I was hoping for something more from Obama. Still, you’ve got to feel safer about Obama’s choice than you do McCain’s choice.

For the record, I’m not a McCain hater. Two years ago, when McCain and Hillary seemed like a lock, I was feeling pretty good. I think Hillary is a very intelligent woman who would probably make a great President. And McCain was always a bit of a maverick, voting against his own party for what he believed to be the greater good of the nation. I like that in a candidate and really felt good about either one of them. And for the record, I don’t believe that McCain is another George Bush. That’s ridiculous. In fact, McCain has had to work very hard over the past two years to appear conservative at all. And, despite the fact that he believes in “staying the course” in Iraq, had McCain been president in the first place, I don’t believe the United States would have even gone to Iraq. But I’m disappointed in the pandering that McCain has done over the past two years. He’s gone from Maverick to push over. He’s gone from “the best Republican candidate in years” to “just another old white republican candidate”.

That said, I still have hope when it comes to John McCain. My biggest hope is that, once he’s won the election (if that were to actually happen), he’ll go back to telling the Pat Robertsons of the world where they can stick their “world leader assassination suggestions”. But the last two years, along with his vice-presidential nomination, have me wondering if he’s really prepared to be President or if, like an old sports star that’s long past his prime, if he’s still running simply because retiring without having won the Presidency would leave an awfully unfulfilled hole in his retirement party.

Seriously, if he doesn’t win, how long do you think it will take him to retire?