McCain's Liability

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright October 9, 2008
All Rights Reserved.                    

       When GOP Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced Aug. 29 that Alaska Gov. Sara Palin would be his running mate, the Republican establishment gasped.  McCain insisted the 44-year-old first-term governor as well-qualified for VP, something strongly doubted by most voters.  McCain said he picked a real “maverick” like himself but couldn’t convince too many voters that she was qualified for VP by reason of experience and readiness for the Oval Office.  Weighing out objections from social and religious conservatives, McCain picked Palin over former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney and former Penn. Gov. Tom Ridge.  McCain enjoyed a brief bounce after Palin’s Sept. 2 well-choreographed speech at the Republican National Convention, blasting Obama and the Democratic Party.  Since then, she’s watched her approval ratings drop like a rock after some bungled TV interviews.

            From the day McCain picked Palin, he’s been on the defense about her credentials, knowing, without foreign policy experience, she’s a heartbeat from the president.  McCain threw pundits for a loop, not because she offered such unique qualities for a VP but because, during a time of war and economic crisis, she offered nothing.  Palin’s acerbic tongue has morphed into McCain’s chief attack dog, blasting Barack for his ties—or lack thereof—to former ‘60-70s’ Weather Underground radical William Ayers.  Ayers, now an education professor at the University of Illinois, Chicago campus, served on a non-profit board with Barack and hosted, in the mid ‘90s, a get-to-know Barack at his South Side Home.  For that, Palin and McCain have accused Barack of “palling around with terrorists.”  Ayers detonated some pipe bombs protesting the Vietnam War in the early ‘70s.

            Lagging in the polls, McCain and Palin have gone to character assassination to make up lost ground.  Judging by current results, the strategy seems to have backfired.  Confronting Obama directly at the Oct. 7 Nashville, Tenn. debate, McCain avoided any mention to the Ayers controversy, preferring to spread falsehoods and ugly rumors on the campaign trail.  A direct confrontation would have given the accused a chance to confront his accuser, something McCain avoided.  Many former ‘60s radicals, including former Black Panther Eldridge Clever, author of the 1968 best selling book “Soul on Ice,” had close relationships with many elected officials before his death at age 62 from prostate cancer.  Palin told Burlingame, Calif. Fundraiser that Barack “would pal around and work with, a former domestic terrorist,” questioning Barack’s honesty and fitness to be president.

            Palin can’t answer questions about the economy or Iraq but she can spread gossip and innuendo about Obama.  McCain’s strategists tell him to attack Barack’s character if he has any chance of making up ground in the polls.  McCain’s plans for the economy and Iraq have fallen flat with voters, forcing a last-ditch strategy of character assassination.  Voters seem more worried about their jobs and 401(k)s than Barack’s specious associations with a former ‘60s radical.  While McCain insists that Palin is a fellow maverick, she has made little headway with independent voters likely to swing the Nov. 4 election.  He thought she would capture the women’s vote but recently polls say otherwise.  Since picking Palin Aug. 29, McCain has been on the defensive trying to vouch for her credentials.  No matter how much vouches, the press raises more and more questions.

            McCain picked Palin ironically to solidify Bush’s so-called base, largely social and religious conservatives.  Moderate Republicans and independents have deserted Bush for some time, evidenced by his abysmally low 27% approval ratings.  If Palin brought Bush’s 27%, it made no sense for McCain to ignore the lion’s share on independents and moderate Republicans.  McCain now faces the added dilemma of having to justify his pick at a time when the campaign is stuck in reverse.  Palin appeals to Bush’s base but virtually no one else, a bad choice if McCain has a chance of chipping into Barack’s lead.  Attacking Obama’s character carries additional risks of looking desperate less than four weeks to the election.  McCain finds himself preaching to the choir and virtually no one else.  Had McCain picked Romney or Ridge, they would have appealed to mainstream voters.

            McCain biggest miscalculation of the campaign was picking Palin to go after what’s left of Bush’s base.  With only 27% remaining, McCain painted himself into a corner, alienating mainstream voters, unwilling to entrust the VP to a political and foreign policy neophyte.  After making the argument that a post-Sept. 11 world can’t afford “on the job training,” McCain impeached his own credibility picking Palin.  He calls his campaign slogan “country first” but clearly picked Palin to shore up Bush’s right wing base.  Whatever threat people feel from the economy or terrorism, they now worry about an unqualified VP, potentially becoming president.  McCain’s age and past medical problems leave voters concerned about his ability to complete a first term.  Picking Palin raised serious doubts about McCain’s judgment, choosing a running mate unfit for commander-in-chief.

  John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyxing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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