Stroke of Genius or Political Blunder?

Sarah Palin - No Surprise

John McCains choice for his Running Mate is raising a furor of controversy that is threatening to overwhelm his campaign. All eyes are now focused on this "new face" on the scene. Susan Palin, who to some political observers, is not so new, and not really quite the surprise that one would think.

On June 23, I seeded an article from AOL "3 Women Who Could Join the GOP Ticket"

The following is my comment (in part) on the article :

"In my opinion Condi Rice would do the most damage to the Obama campaign ......
....however as the article says, she is not interested. If McCain has to, or decides to pick someone else, I believe Sarah Palin would be his best choice She has the dynamics and energy that the McCain campaign needs. She also has the "political phenomenon" aura that is needed to offset the similar image that Obama projects. That's why I hope he doesn't pick her.

Post #1 - Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:18 PM EDT

Now I'm glad he did!

Did John have a Stroke of Genius?

In the aftermath of the 2006 elections, when the GOP political machine lay in shambles, one shining ray of hope emerged, in of all places, Alaska, where Sarah Palin, a young, dynamic politician was elected governor. Since then, with approval ratings in excess of 90%, she is considered perhaps the most popular Governor on the United States.

Her rise is a great (and rare) story of how adherence to principle in government, can produce political success. As recently as last year, Palin was a political outcast. She resigned in January 2004 as head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission after complaining to the office of Governor Frank Murkowski and to state Attorney General Gregg Renkes about ethical violations by another commissioner, Randy Ruedrich, who was also Republican state chairman.

State law barred Palin from speaking out publicly about ethical violations and corruption. But she was vindicated later in 2004 when Ruedrich, who'd been reconfirmed as state chairman, agreed to pay a $12,000 fine for breaking state ethics laws. She became a hero in the eyes of the public and the press, and the bane of Republican leaders.

In 2005, she continued to take on the Republican establishment by joining Eric Croft, a Democrat, in lodging an ethics complaint against Renkes, who was not only attorney general but also a long-time adviser and campaign manager for Murkowski. The governor reprimanded Renkes and said the case was closed. It wasn't. Renkes resigned a few weeks later, and Palin was again hailed as a hero.

In 2006 she ran against Gov. Murkowski, who was seeking a second term despite sagging poll ratings, in the Republican primary. In a three-way race, Palin captured 51 percent and won in a landslide. She defeated former Democratic governor Tony Knowles in the general election, 49 percent to 41 percent. She was one of the few Republicans anywhere in the country to perform above expectations in 2006, an overwhelmingly Democratic year. Palin is a conservative and unabashedly pro life.

With her emphasis on ethics and openness in government, "it turned out Palin caught the temper of the times perfectly," wrote Tom Kizzia of the Anchorage Daily News. She was also lucky. News broke of an FBI investigation of corruption by legislators between the primary and general elections. So far, three legislators have been indicted.

In the roughly three years since she quit as the state's chief regulator of the oil industry, Palin has crushed the Republican hierarchy (virtually all male) and nearly every other foe or critic. Political analysts in Alaska refer to the "body count" of Palin's rivals.

"The landscape is littered with the bodies of those who crossed Sarah," says pollster Dave Dittman, who worked for her gubernatorial campaign. It includes Ruedrich, Renkes, Murkowski, gubernatorial contenders John Binkley and Andrew Halcro, the three big oil companies in Alaska, and a section of the Daily News called "Voice of the Times," which was highly critical of Palin and is now defunct.

However, there is the dark side.

Biggest Blunder in Modern Presidential Politics?

I've been a political puntit for some time now, I was directly involved, for a time, in New York State politics, working for a State Senator as Campaign Manager, and staffer. I've had particular interest in watching, and even being involved, on local level, in Presidential campaigns and I honestly believe, that John McCain as committed the biggest political blunder in recent Presidential politics.

I hardly know where to start in sorting the reasons why I think he should not have picked Sarah Palin. If I were working on his campaign staff. I would be flabbergasted, ... stunned .....I wouldn't know what to do, ...I'd probably quit.. I am sure, that this mistake is, without question, going to be considered the leading factor for McCains defeat if he should loose this election.

I'm not sure what factor is most important when analyzing this blunder, but one of them is, for sure, her lack of experience. Probably the most important, and for a number of reasons. I mean, she went from PTA President, to City Council member, to Mayor of Wasilla, a "Bedroom Suburb" of Anchorage, with a population of around 6,000 people. There are College Campus's bigger than that! She then, as described above, becomes the Governor of Alaska,while twice the size of Texas, has less then 700,000 people living there making it, by population, the 3rd smallest State in the Nation.

Now, McCain thinks all of a sudden, she's ready to run the entire Country! When Obama picked Biden, he said his first consideration was finding someone that is capable of being President. Someone with National and International experience. Apparently McCain doesn't think those factors are important. He obviously, chose her because of her popularity, her charisma, youth and dynamics, that's fine, but what about her political skills, her administrative skills, her foreign policy skills?

Her political skills although seemingly "well honed", amount to her so called "meteoric rise" which was due to her having "caught the temper of the times perfectly" and even with Dittmans comment that "The landscape is littered with the bodies of those who crossed Sarah," she has yet to be tested in the "Bloodbath Politics" of Washington D.C.

Her administrative skills also falls short. Her tenure as Mayor of Wasilla is hardly preparation for anything more than ..... running a small town. Wasilla's annual budget of 12 million dollars is about what Obama spends in a week on his campaign.

As for her tenure as Gov. of Alaska, I do not have the figures for the States total annual budget, but, I know Alaska does have an excellent credit rating with about 3-4 billion of debt against a 39.9 Billion Dollar Permanent fund. However, this is chump change budget management compared to the numbers she will have to deal with in Washington, where they measure debt and spending in the Trillions!

However, the real problems with her administrative skills were just beginning to emerge when McCain tapped her, apparently unvetted, for the VP slot. Her reputation as a crusading reformer after pushing through higher taxes on oil companies has been tarnished by revelations that members of her staff tried to have her former brother-in-law fired from his job as an Alaska state trooper.

State lawmakers have launched a $100,000 investigation to determine if Palin dismissed Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan last month because Monegan wouldn't fire a state trooper involved in a messy custody battle with her sister.

She also is under fire from environmentalists for opposing the Bush administration's decision in May to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act because global warming is melting the polar ice cap. Palin said the decision could damage the state's and nation's economy.

As far as her Foreign Policy experience goes: She had to apply for a Passport to go to Iraq to visit the Alaskan National Guard Troops serving there. Apparent she had never been out of the country prior to that. She also made a trip to Ireland. So much for Foreign Policy Experience.

We must keep in mind that, this woman, with her limited background, is going to be a heartbeat away from a man that will be 72 years old when he enters the Oval Office. Now, God forbid anything should happen to John McCain before he leaves office, should he be elected, because if it does, this Country will be in deep ka ka.

So is it Genius or Blunder? In June, based on the little I knew about her, I thought she would be a good pick. However, now that I have "vetted" her, I am going to have to vote for Blunder!

Note: The issue non-issue of her Daughters pregnancy and impending marriage will not be discussed by this author, as in my opinion it is a private family matter, and has no place in a Public Forum. Any comments on that subject will be deleted by the author.

[Information taken in part from an artilce by News Corporations "the Weekly Standard"]