With the revelation today that Sarah Palin was not vetted prior to McCain panicking and selecting her to be one heartbeat away from the Presidency, and with a team of Republican operatives and lawyers now en route to Alaska at this very moment to investigate her after the fact, I have to state the obvious.
There is no way Sarah Palin remains on the Republican ticket. If McCain keeps her on the ticket, there will be a drumbeat of reports of Palin’s past statements and positions and associations, all culminating in a debate in which operate as the ultiminate cross examination or her, instead of being a debate between Joe Biden and John McCain’s potential vice presidents.
From almost being recalled as mayor, to being a former member of the Alaska Independence Party which sought not only the secession of Alaska from the United States, but also for the dissolution of the federal government of the United States “should certain conditions occur,” to calling the Iraq War a “war for oil,” to endorsing Barack Obama’s energy plan, to abusing her power as Alaskan Governor on two separate occassions, resulting in the current Troopergate scandal, which has just recently caused Mrs. Palin to lawyer up, to her admission that she has “never really focused on Iraq,” to her laughing and snorting on a radio show while a Republican opponent (who happens to be a woman and a cancer survivor) is called a cancer and a bitch by some right wing shock jocks, to blatantly lying in her announcement speech about opposing the Bridge to Nowhere, to her opposition to having polar bears placed on the endangered species list because she wants to drill drill drill in the artic…..whew…., Sarah Palin is already fatally damaged as a Vice Presidential pick. And that is without even considering the other revelations today, which I will not consider in evaluating what remains of her candidacy.
Yes, I realize that by withdrawing her name, or having Palin withdraw her own name, McCain is essentially admitting that he used horrible judgment in choosing her in the first place, which will destroy his candidacy as well. So it is a lose-lose situation for McCain. Perhaps he will stay with her, knowing that he will lose anyway so he might as well expose the truly vapid socially conservative right wing in the process. Perhaps he will stay with her because he is a prideful stubborn idiot, who can never admit a mistake, not unlike his mentor, George W. Bush.
But let’s say McCain does withdraw her name, or let’s say Sarah Palin decides that now is not the time, given her recent family difficulties, to run for Vice President, or actually be Vice President. Who does he pick as his new running mate?