Palin Not Well Vetted

Sen. John McCain energized his campaign by choosing a young, solidly pro-life vice presidential nominee and the first woman ever on the Republican ticket. In addition to closing the enthusiasm gap with Democratic nominee Barack Obama, he also accomplished in one quick decision what he has been unable to do in more than 18 months: win over the GOP’s most conservative wing.

But the optimum word here is “quick.”

Amid questions raised over Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s level of experience and new personal and familial revelations trickling out every day, it has become clear that Palin was not vetted properly.

In fact, a McCain team didn’t even arrive in Alaska to investigate Palin’s background until Thursday, the day she accepted the running mate offer and a day before she was introduced to the nation and world as McCain’s VP selection.

The New York Times also reports that McCain’s campaign is sending operatives back to Alaska to further vet the governor. It’s a little late for that.
Palin is under investigation by the Alaska legislature over allegations she abused her power and fired the state’s public safety commissioner because he would not fire her ex-brother-in-law. On Monday, Palin announced that her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, was five months pregnant. Word also got out that Palin’s husband has a DUI charge, although it’s 22 years old.

These revelations singularly are not career-enders, nor should they be. They say nothing about Palin’s fitness to be one heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States. But they say a lot about McCain’s judgment in picking a running mate without a thorough background check. (McCain claims he knew about the teenage daughter’s pregnancy, but it’s not clear how or when he became known of it.)

It’s not what has been learned already about Palin that is problematic for McCain, but the unknown – and the constant risk to McCain’s newfound momentum.

McCain’s VP pick also smacks of pandering – hardly the trait of a self-styled maverick. Campaign insiders have said the Arizona senator really wanted as a running mate former Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge, a Republican, or Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an independent but longtime Democrat.
This dilemma presented a Sophie’s choice for McCain: Pick the pro-choice Ridge or Lieberman and attract the support of moderates and independents, or risk the evangelical vote on Nov. 4. It very likely will take both to win Nov. 4.

Instead, McCain assuaged evangelicals by selecting an unknown with less than two years in the governor’s mansion of an obscure state, and two years removed from the mayor’s office in a town of 6,700.

Supporters claim the Palin selection will appeal to disenchanted Hillary Clinton supporters, but that assertion is downright silly. Palin holds diametrically opposed views than Clinton on everything from abortion to global warming. To think that Clinton supporters will punish Obama by abandoning their principles is an affront to these women.

We are not knocking Palin, but we are questioning the process in which she was chosen. The Alaska governor might possess the stuff of political greatness, but she should not have been selected on the GOP ticket after a single, 15-minute-long, face-to-face meeting with McCain.

The last time a VP selection was this unvetted was Sen. Thomas Eagleton in 1972. He lasted for 18 days on George McGovern’s Democratic ticket before being pushed aside following revelations that he three times had been hospitalized for depression and twice received electroshock therapy.

Contrary to the stigma, there’s no shame in being treated for depression – it’s admirable, in fact. The shame is that McGovern operatives didn’t know about it until after he was on the ticket.

And the shame here is that McCain rushed a veepee pick who may not be ready for prime time and for whom there might be other surprises.