Kaine: McCain's choice of Palin less serious than hiring someone for a summer job

By: Lowell
Published On: 9/30/2008 3:04:21 PM

Earlier today, Tim Kaine was on WTOP's "Ask the Governor" program  Here are his thoughts on John McCain's pick of Sarah Palin.  As you read these remarks, you might want to keep in mind that Tim Kaine knows Senator Obama extremely well, is an important part of Senator Obama's campaign, and was himself a finalist for VP.

I think the choice of Governor Palin is a much more interesting choice insofar as what it says about John McCain...I know, without going into it too much, I know how seriously Senator Obama took the choice of who would be his Vice President. And the #1 criterion was somebody has to be ready to step in and be president if anything happens to me, that was the way he would phrase it. And it was incredibly thorough, incredibly professional, it was painfully thorough, with a lot of personal involvement by the candidate himself.

My sense from everything I've read about Senator McCain's choice, he approached it very differently. He had met Governor Palin once in a large group, had a phone call with her the week before, then asked her to Arizona to offer her the job. I think most people would take hiring someone for a summer job more seriously than Senator McCain took the choice of Governor Palin. Clearly, he didn't really know her. When I saw him announce her as his choice, he was having to read her resume, he couldn't talk about her from personal knowledge. And I just think that is a very bizarre way to make a decision about who would be second in command at these very difficult times. That is a character trait of Senator McCain's and he approached it very differently than Senator Obama did.

Ouch.

Comments



On a side note (Pain - 9/30/2008 3:25:42 PM)

Kaine said there are 290,000 new voter registrations as of Sept 15.


Bet that McCain didn't make the decision. (FMArouet21 - 9/30/2008 3:27:04 PM)
It seems more likely that Steve Schmidt (Karl Rove's disciple) and Rick Davis (uber-lobbyist extraordinaire) made the decision and compelled McCain to accept it.

It was the only way to mobilize the fundamentalist "Base" and stand a chance of avoiding a complete rout.

Of course, by the end of this campaign, all that the Republican Party may be left with is that "Base"--holding a majority only in the Deep South, Utah, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Idaho, Nebraska, Kansas, and South Dakota.

It is starting to look as though we may be heading toward 1932 territory, the last time a Republican Era of unregulated greed led us to an economic collapse:

1932 Election results

Herbert Hoover:     39.7% of Popular Vote     59 Electoral Votes

FDR:                      57.4% of Popular Vote     472 Electoral Votes

If nearly 40% of voters were dumb enough to vote for Hoover in the midst of the Great Depression in 1932, we probably have to concede that 40% of voters will be dumb enough to vote for McCain in 2008. But surely no more than 40% can be that stupid. The "Base" is about 30%, and this time around it seems unlikely that Republican fear cards and disinformation will be able fool more than another 10% of the voting public.



Then there's the military (Teddy - 9/30/2008 9:07:15 PM)
and I am embarrassed to say that far too many military (mostly officers) are completely sold on the Republican schtick of being pro-military, and feel that Obama just "doesn't get it," and is a wimp. The military-industrial complex is real, the authoritarian mindset exists, especially among many retired.  


Military Officers for Palin? (jackiehva - 10/1/2008 9:24:10 AM)
How can any military person, officer or enlisted, look at Sarah Palin's performance since she was nominated and see her as their potential Commander in Chief?  Remember, one in three VP's go on to be President.

We have to GOTV and defeat the R team.



Kaine's critique (jbvgoode - 10/1/2008 9:58:12 AM)
The Governor's critique of Sen. McCain's VP selection process is pitch perfect.  He has made the same basic point before, but I hadn't heard the summer job example until I read it on RK.  That sort of simple analogy may make some undecideds decide for Obama (or at least against McCain).  I also hope that hearing about the almost unbelievably cursory selection process from someone who went through a genuine vetting will lead many listeners to consider that the essence of the President's job is obtaining good information, processing that information and making decisions based on the information.  Based on that job description, the selection of Gov. Palin seems thoroughly "un-Presidential."  Another moment of reflection reveals the motive behind the selection: a desperate attempt to boost enthusiasm in one part of the GOP as opposed to a responsible attempt to find a qualified understudy and possible replacement.  This is a line of thinking that may turn some undecideds into Obama supporters.  Keep it up Governor Kaine.        


Agreed. (Lowell - 10/1/2008 10:02:48 AM)
I've never heard the argument against McCain's pathetic Palin pick made any better than that. Good work by Gov. Kaine!