So what is there to say about the Sarah Palin selection that hasn’t been said by countless other folks already? Not much really. In terms of strategy from here on out, I think it’s a mistake for people on the left to go after her on the issue of experience. Not because I think there’s any reason to believe she’s “qualified” to be president (whatever that means) but because that narrative has already sunk in and done its damage. The more it gets talked about from here on out, the more I think its likely to backfire by reinforcing the idea that “experience” is an absolute positive, a legitimate method for judging candidates that trumps other questions. After all, if it’s a choice between McCain and Obama we all know who wins the “experience” battle there.
I think the real boon from the Palin selection is that it neutralizes one of McCain’s most annoying (and effective) routes of attack. They’re clearly not going to stop harping on Obama’s lack of experience, but you’d have to think that the cognitive dissonance created by this VP selection happening simultaneously with constant claims of “putting the country first” and “the judgment and experience to lead” is eventually going to be too much for some people to handle.
Watching the GOP convention I was struck by just how blatant their tactics have become. Rail about Obama not providing any specifics in the midst of a convention that includes no details. Talk about Obama being out of touch while virtually ignoring the single most important issue on the minds of most average voters (the economy, stupid). Make snide, sarcastic comments about a cult of personality even as you’re doing everything you can to build up the image of John McCain – the one we’ve been waiting for, the man who was born to be president. Talk about how Obama isn’t serious enough about doing what’s best for the country even as you pick a VP who you could not possibly with a straight face claim is “prepared” to be president by any metric you’ve been harping on for the last 6 months. Insist over and over that Palin was against the “bridge to nowhere” when she wasn’t, claim that Obama wants to raise taxes on average people when he doesn’t, deliberately lie about the competing policies on health care, nuclear power, you name it. Talking about “reform” and “change” while pretending they haven’t been in power for 8 years, and pledging to continue the policies that got us where we are. The willingness to make the most patently absurd claims with a straight face (“she has foreign policy experience because Alaska is near Russia,” she has executive experience from running a small town and a small state that compares meaningfully to running a national campaign for president, etc.). And so on.
The lies and contradictions are right there in plain sight and eventually people are going to be repulsed by it, as long as the Obama campaign and its surrogates take the right approach to make it clear. And that means not letting up on attacks against McCain, combining all of these issues into one overarching story: that he is willing to compromise any principle to be elected.
I think what’s become extremely obvious in all of this is how explicitly political the McCain campaign is. The most damning thing about the Palin selection is not that she isn’t ready to be president, it’s that it demonstrates just how completely they are willing to abandon supposedly heartfelt principles of “experience” which had been the talking points all summer. It demonstrates that they are willing to make a political move and pick a candidate they don’t know and haven’t vetted to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. It’s a decision that’s breath-taking in its cynicism and its disregard for the general public interest. She may very well have the character and fortitude to be president but there’s simply no way that McCain could have known that when he made his decision. And that’s the real crux of this.
I think Steve Benen put it best:
Palin’s qualifications are, to a very real degree, secondary to the issue at hand. What matters most right now is John McCain’s comically dangerous sense of judgment. He picked a running mate he met once for 15 minutes, who’s been the governor of a small state for a year and a half, and who is in the midst of an abuse-of-power investigation in which she appears to have lied rather blatantly. She has no obvious expertise in any area, and no record of any kind of federal issues. McCain doesn’t care.
Sensible people of sound mind and character simply don’t do things like this. Leaders don’t do things like this. It’s the height of arrogance. It’s manifestly unserious. It’s reckless and irresponsible. It mocks the political process. Faced with a major presidential test, McCain thought it wise to tell an imprudent joke of lasting consequence.
If we play this right, all of this (the Palin selection, the blatant lies, the endless flip-flops, the refusal to let the campaign be about issues) can become more than just “character” attacks, and can become a demonstration of an underlying pattern that makes it clear how unfit this guy is to run the country.
Two footnotes. First, perhaps the most perplexing element of all of this is the way that both Giuliani and Palin in their speeches treated “community organizer” as an epithet. What’s next: trying to spin honored military service on a swift boat in Vietnam as a negative, too?”
But in all seriousness, this is just crazy. The Obama campaign has already sent out an e-mail about this, but they really should make it a big deal. How easy would it be to run a quick ad on this? Show some pictures of MLK, of Church groups, of idealistic young folks hoping to make a difference and old folks giving something back to their community. Have a voiceover emphasizing Obama’s personal commitment to community service, and the way he’s made it a signature issue. Then put up the sarcastic quotes from the GOP convention and repeat the quote from the campaign’s e-mail “Community organizing is how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies.”
Second, let’s not forget in all of this that Palin is about as far out there as you can get on a number of important questions. She wants to ban abortion in all instances, no matter what. She wants to teach creationism. She is opposed to contraceptive use by a married couple. She doesn’t think global warming is anthropogenic. This stuff matters both because of what it says about her, but also because of what it says about who McCain thinks he has to appease, and who he’ll kowtow to if he does get elected. He may not be a cultural crusader in his heart of hearts, but that’s irrelevant. All that matters is that he thinks he’s beholden to them and will govern accordingly.
I mean, seriously. This ticket wants not only to overturn Roe. They want a constitutional amendment to ban abortion.
UPDATE: One last thought riffing on that quote from Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager, that “This election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates.”
Can this be the moment when we collectively as a nation finally give up the ghost on this preposterous notion that Obama never follows through on specifics? I dare anyone who makes this claim with a straight face to watch his speech and McCain’s, to check their respective campaign websites, or to simply pick a relevant issue and delve into it. Put even the slightest bit of work into this and it’s clear that the gulf in details, policy prescriptions, promises for implementation, tactics, and strategy is enormous and it’s in Obama’s favor almost across the board.