It's McCain's Fault

8 Thoughts on the Current Campaigns #6

Republicans have already begun pointing fingers at one another over what appears to be an inevitable loss tomorrow. (I'll still believe it when I see it, but I'm hopeful.) It would appear that many think Palin will bear the brunt of the blame. In fact, some people, such as Josh Marshall, believe that it will be the effective end of her national political career.

It's hard to deny that Gov. Palin, despite an early burst of excitement, has been a drag on the ticket. Some McCain insiders believe that she is a diva and hasn't done the things necessary for a national race. She keeps her family too close. She's too hard to prepare. She doesn't speak well extemporaneously. All true. She's a loser of a VP candidate. Is it her fault though?

No, John McCain is to blame.

President Bill Clinton said of Barack Obama, "(I)n his first presidential decision, the selection of a running mate, he hit it out of the park." He was referring to Joe Biden of course. Is anyone, I mean anyone of any note, saying the same thing about McCain's decision to pick Sarah Palin? Of course not.

Yes, Gov. Palin is a failure as a running mate on the national scale. It was the duty of the man running at the top of the ticket to pick a running mate. Everything he needed to know about Palin was in the public record. He has no one to blame but himself for her drag on the ticket.