I was nearly right. I posted a kinda sarcastic
readers blog at TPM explaining why McCain chose Palin:
The GOP only chose McCain as their presidential candidate because all the other choices were even worse. And that's exactly why McCain chose Palin.
It was supposed to be Lieberman, actually - that was the plan. But at the last minute, Joe told John that he had something big to confess. He said that if this big secret ever got out, it would be a huge scandal that would sink the GOP ticket for good.
McCain was shocked - shocked! - to hear Lieberman admit this sordid truth: he is an AIPAC stooge and has been putting Israel's interests ahead of the USA's for many years.
Shh - don't tell anybody.
Well, now the NYT has come out with
the true story. And I wasn't too far off:
Up until midweek last week, some 48 to 72 hours before Mr. McCain introduced Ms. Palin at a Friday rally in Dayton, Ohio, Mr. McCain was still holding out the hope that he could choose a good friend, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, a Republican close to the campaign said. Mr. McCain had also been interested in another favorite, former Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania.
But both men favor abortion rights, anathema to the Christian conservatives who make up a crucial base of the Republican Party. As word leaked out that Mr. McCain was seriously considering the men, the campaign was bombarded by outrage from influential conservatives who predicted an explosive floor fight at the convention and vowed rejection of Mr. Ridge or Mr. Lieberman by the delegates.
Perhaps more important, several Republicans said, Mr. McCain was getting advice that if he did not do something to shake up the race, his campaign would be stuck on a potentially losing trajectory.
With time running out — and as Mr. McCain discarded two safer choices, Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, as too predictable — he turned to Ms. Palin. He had his first face-to-face interview with her on Thursday and offered her the job moments later. Advisers to Mr. Pawlenty and another of the finalists on Mr. McCain’s list described an intensive vetting process for those candidates that lasted one to two months.
“They didn’t seriously consider her until four or five days from the time she was picked, before she was asked, maybe the Thursday or Friday before,” said a Republican close to the campaign. “This was really kind of rushed at the end, because John didn’t get what he wanted. He wanted to do Joe or Ridge.”
5 comments:
I also called it correctly in some of my incessant comments on other blogs, although I came at it from a different perspective than you.
Palin's selection was being spun as an aggressive move on McCain's part to go after disaffected Hillary voters (the "PUMAs" as in "Party Unity My Ass" who don't actually exist except as anonymous Republican poseurs). Attack weak parts of the opposition's base.
But I got to thinking about who a fundamentalist woman would appeal to. I thought of my Aunt Jean, a smug, self-satisfied End Timer farmer's wife in the state of Maryland, and my mom, a bitter pro-Republican crustacean who still defends Nixon. They don't like McKeating. But they would like Palin because she goes to church. The fact that she has all these disgusting facets of her personal and political life matters not. Church attendance trumps all. Palin would make them more enthusiastic for McSame.
So she's not an offence pick -- Palin is all about playing defence. Only KKKarl Rove can't say it that way because that would be admitting weakness. And the corpomeeja will never analyse it that way.
The NYT story you cite, though, makes me think we'll see a withdrawal soon. Palin will bow out "for the good of the Party and her family due to the vicious personal attacks from liberal bloggers." That story was based on leaks from GOP insiders. Shows how the Inner Party has its knives out, saying McInsane made a mistake by a hasty decision. Only question is whether it will only be Palin turning tail, or whether there will be a move by the Rethugs to dump McCancerface at the convention too.
According to Josh MArhsall, intrade now has a Palin withdrawal on the books, and up from 5 to 18 within a day.
I would have thought that the baby thing was a perfect opportunity to withdraw ("Sorry, but I gotta take care of my daughter and her new baby.") But Palin is one tough bitch, as you expect from GOP ladies, and they will have to throw her under a train before she pulls out voluntarily. An offer she can't refuse? What have you got, KKKarl?
They WONT blame liberal bloggers, but! That would be a sign of weakness, and too encouraging for us all. It will have to look like her own decision, I think.
And then again, who do you get to replace her? They still have no good options. It's reminiscent of Howard's last days (and beyond) where everybody in the Conga Line was tainted with the smell...
And then again, who do you get to replace her?
In normal times, I would expect someone representing corporate/financial interests to replace Palin. The guy who Teh Power REALLY wants to run things after McCain becomes incapacitated. However, as you point out, the rightist electoral enterprise reeks with the smell of flop sweat.
I don't think a rich man like Romney would want to toss any of his personal millions into a losing game. Anyone with a viable political job, such as this Gov. Pawlenty, would be reluctant to crawl out on a limb that's already cracking. So my money's on Huckabee. Why not go for a religious wingnut, to satisfy the base, when he's bound to lose and not be able to push any of his "Sermon on the Mount" populist economic ideals in actuality.
Heh. You might be right, Bukko. But I wouldn't waste too much time guessing the next VP - much as I would like to see it happen, I don't expect Palin to quit. Just the opposite, in fact: the more opposition, the more support she'll get from the GOP elite!
I mean, c'mon - when's the last time these guys ever admitted they were wrong about anything? Not gonna start now - they are going down in flames, one way or t'other...
You know what's funny is that MArgaret Thatcher is out of her frikkin' mind - literally - these days, while these "not for turning" wankers who have followed in her and Reagan's shadows are out of their minds in the more conventional sense.
Did you see that Palin is already fronting up to AIPAC, before she even talks to reporters or does a presser? I guess it's the Smell Test. Guess what? She passed:
Block also praised the Democratic ticket.
“Now that both the Democrats and the Republicans have determined their respective tickets, AIPAC is pleased that both parties have selected four pro-Israel candidates,” he said. “In so doing, they have reaffirmed the broad bipartisan support that exists in our country for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship.”
Wasn't is a former Israeli PM who boasted after 911 that Israel controlled the USA? Seven years later, nothing has changed...
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