Sep 2nd, 2008 at 7:48 am
A Question on Vetting
Looking at the Sarah Palin debacle, one is reminded that one of the principal powers of the presidency is the power to appoint people — federal judges, ambassadors, cabinet secretaries, subcabinet officials, FEC members, the Amtrak board, all kinds of things. Presidents don’t always put the best people in these positions, but normally they give the matter some thought. Even an unqualified crony gets his job because somebody knew him. Is McCain going to just pick people at random in order to “shake things up?” Not bother to do any vetting in order to preserve the element of surprise?
The unfolding Palin situation, meanwhile, is so absurd that it’s got Richard Cohen writing solid columns.
54 Responses to “A Question on Vetting”
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September 2nd, 2008 at 8:05 am
So our esteemed historian Newt Gingrich thinks that Palin is the first journalist nominated as president or vice president? (as quoted in Cohen’s column) How could he possibly forget that one of the Republican Party’s greatest presidents, Warren G. Harding, published a newspaper in Warren, Ohio?
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:11 am
This could be the silver lining to the election if McCain wins. His haphazard strategy of nominating the next guy he passes on the street to take over cabinet positions means we might still see a Dem as SecDef, AG, etc.
In fact, it might be smart to take a hike past him myself, maybe score a job as Secretary of the Interior or some shit. Woohoo!
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:19 am
Random question. Which is greater, the number of people Palin supervised as Mayor or the number of servants the McCains employee? I really do not know the answer but would it not be a great talking point if she was responsible for less people than the person who runs the McCains’ personal lives.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:24 am
Welcome to Nazi Germany! This is what you can expect under a McCain administration – and you can add torture to that, presumably.
Breaking News from Crooks and Liars:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/01/democracy-nows-amy-goodman-arrested/#comments
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:26 am
Maybe it shouldn’t be unthinkable to conclude from this that rather than this being some huge, incautious gaffe, this is actually the way McCain intends to govern, and people like Palin will be put in power to carry out the types of agenda they’re likely to carry out.
Why should we assume that Saint McCain would do like people hope and somehow the VP will go back to being a ‘ceremonial’ role outside of emergencies, instead of pursuing her agenda just as unaccountably and ruthlessly as Cheney?
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:27 am
In the September Atlantic Monthly, John Weaver, 2000 McCain political strategist is quoted: “He at times makes emotional decisions, and when he does they are almost always a mistake.”
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:32 am
Unlike Bush, McCain is an awesome maverick because his thoughtless, knee-jerk choices don’t even reward old pals and cronies. McCain is the real impulsive decision-maker. None of this half-assed Bush shit.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:37 am
the thing is, McCain did give it some thought; he knew who he wanted: Joe Lieberman or Tom Ridge. but the Party shot those down. and so he threw his hands up and picked someone ridiculous.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:41 am
Heh. When you lose Cohen that completely, things really are not going well.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:41 am
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Cohen’s column is one of the wittiest opinion pieces I’ve read in a long time. Hysterical. The best part, by far, is Cohen’s speculation that this whole thing is McCain’s joke at the expense of his party: “it is possible that this is McCain’s attempt to make fools of his fellow Republicans. He has succeeded beyond all expectations.”
++ to that.
I predicted before, and I’ll predict again, that McCain has overplayed his hand: the media are going to turn on Palin, and the media was/is McCain’s most important constituency.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:53 am
Almost more maddening than the rush to pick her is the reaction of the conservative press and pundits to the drip-drip of bad news. Or should I say good news? Surf around the net or watch a little television and you’re greeted with observers willing to make the case every nutty revelation is actually a net plus for McCain. Palin could have a bank robbery conviction surface and her ability to personally understand and empathize with the mindset of a desperate felon would be touted as valuable to her VP duties.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:00 am
I’ve read where McCain said that he has followed Palin’s career for “years and years”. He followed her, IOW, during her tenure as Wasillla’s mayor.
The number of mayors for cities that size is fairly large. So, I’m guessing this explains why McCain has been too busy to show up for his Senate duties for several years. Keeping tabs on America’s small town mayors is a full time job.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:11 am
“Looking at the Sarah Palin debacle…”
You’re counting your chickens a bit early here.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:11 am
I originally thought that McCain was basically an underachiever– genus ‘hysterical’ rather than genus ‘fratboy’ like our current President. But I’m starting to think that, in fact, McCain is a man on autodestruct. He’s been spared the consequences up to this point, being merely mavericky and Senatorial, and all. But putting executive power into his hands would be a genuine disaster.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:12 am
As the GOP deals with Hurrican Gustav and Hurricane Palin, the Right says we on the left are afraid of Palin or Jealous of her because we are dong what he should have done Vetted Her! What we are upset about is the hypocrisy of McCain to (for months) label Barack as an empty suit, has no experience, etc., etc. and then to pick a VP “beauty queen” who is up for ethics investigation, who is completely unqualified, and shows very little intellectual capacity, just because she is a Woman, in a dishonest attempt to Steal Hillary women, is prepostorous and foolhardy (fools rush in where Angels fear to tread). And we are terrified because John McCain is old and not in the best of health and there is a very REAL possibility that this woman who is not fit to be President could be president. That is outrageous! And a slap in the face to the American people. It is very dangerous and reckless and this man has to be stopped! This — McCain’s Rush to Judgment — has unveiled the true persona (a dangerous, foolhardy and reckless man who puts party first before the country)! His campaign motto “Country First” is a lie and a deception — something GOP is good at, but not anymore. Where Hurricane Palin shall make landfall, I don’t know; I only know that the Truth shall Prevail!
Body
As the GOP deals with Hurrican Gustav and Hurricane Palin, the Right says we on the left are afraid of Palin or Jealous of her because we are dong what he should have done Vetted Her! What we are upset about is the hypocrisy of McCain to (for months) label Barack as an empty suit, has no experience, etc., etc. and then to pick a VP “beauty queen” who is up for ethics investigation, who is completely unqualified, and shows very little intellectual capacity, just because she is a Woman, in a dishonest attempt to Steal Hillary women, is prepostorous and foolhardy (fools rush in where Angels fear to tread). And we are terrified because John McCain is old and not in the best of health and there is a very REAL possibility that this woman who is not fit to be President could be president. That is outrageous! And a slap in the face to the American people. It is very dangerous and reckless and this man has to be stopped! This — McCain’s Rush to Judgment — has unveiled the true persona (a dangerous, foolhardy and reckless man who puts party first before the country)! His campaign motto “Country First” is a lie and a deception — something GOP is good at, but not anymore. Where Hurricane Palin shall make landfall, I don’t know; I only know that the Truth shall Prevail!
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:14 am
Wow, Newt Gingrich is full of shit. What a surprise. There’ve actually been a large number of people with journalistic backgrounds nominated for president or vice president. We can start with Al Gore, who worked as a journalist for the army in Vietnam, and worked for several years for the Tennessean, a Nashville daily.
Among older candidates, Frank Knox (Republican 1936 vice presidential nominee), Whitelaw Reid (Republican 1892 vice presidential nominee), and, most famously, Horace Greeley (1872 Liberal Republican and Democratic presidential nominee) were all newspaper editors.
There would likely be others if I cared to look into it more closely, but those came to mind off the top of my head.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:20 am
Had McCain vetted her, he might have noticed that as she moved up the ladder, she tended to knock off those above who had helped her along the way. If I were McCain, I’d be watching my back……. she sees President Palin on the stationery.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:23 am
Look. This is a guy whom destruction follows everywhere he goes. Everything he touches explodes, crashes, or gets divorced. He’s crashed five planes; in one crash he actually ended up at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico and had to swim up to safety. In July 1967 he was just sitting in his plane on the deck of the USS Forrestal waiting to take off (supposedly) when out of nowhere a missile launched off the wing of another plane, slammed into his, and started a chain reaction of explosions that killed 134 people and put the carrier out of action for 2 years — the worst disaster in US naval aviation history. Somehow he managed to scramble to safety. Two months later he was flying his mission over Hanoi, saw a SAM had locked on to his tail, knew he was supposed to start evasive maneuvers but thought “if I pull out now I’ll never have the guts to come in for another run so…” and instead just stayed in a minute longer, “pickled his load” (as the pilots used to say) and…felt the SAM blow his right wing off. He ejected, broke his leg, slammed into Lake Truc Bach, and luckily had officers intervene before the crowd beat him to death. The guy’s entire life has been a replay of Risky Business, careering from one crazy episode to the next wrecking things and blowing things up and always just barely managing to emerge alive. The Sarah Palin whitewater ride is just the latest episode.
I’m not going to say this story doesn’t have its appealing side. But as I said a year ago: we shouldn’t be voting on whether to elect him president, we should be voting on whether to throw him overboard. The guy is a goddamn Jonah.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:25 am
There is a big difference between a presidential appointment and a president’s pick for vice-president. A presidential appointment (including those approved by Congress) can always be fired if the president chooses. A vice-president has to be impeached (or replaced on the ticket next election cycle).
Presidential appointments are often replaced. It’s routine. Vice-presidents are never impeached, and only one has been forced to resign (to my knowledge). In other words, a mistake in choosing a vice-president is a mistake we are almost always stuck to live with.
Another big difference, of course, is that many vice-presidents, unlike other appointees, go on to become president.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:29 am
While McCain is endlessly irresponsible with this choice, he has to share a little blame with Palin, since she didn’t really need to accept the nomination. They both are wildly unaware of her capabilities, and the embarrassment this will be for the Republican party. She should have also known that she would be a better candidate 4 years from now, with all this debaclypse stuff behind her
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:39 am
Sensible?
Bias, much?
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:46 am
As I commented an hour or two after he selected her, the election is over. Its now just a question of how big a margin Obama wins by.
As for what happens to Palin, people are now giving odds about whether she will remain on the ticket until November. My question is: once she’s nominated, will McCain be able to remove her from the ticket? At that point, wouldn’t she have to willingly step down to be removed?
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:55 am
cleek,
the thing is, McCain did give it some thought; he knew who he wanted: Joe Lieberman or Tom Ridge. but the Party shot those down. and so he threw his hands up and picked someone ridiculous.
You know, these last few days I’ve begun to wonder whether the Palin pick will sow serious bitterness within the GOP. The business Republicans were willing to handcuff themselves to the Fundie loons for political gain, and also because it was no skin off their noses to become anti-choice, anti-science, etc. As long as the Fundies were willing to go along with the class war, what did the business types care? Strange bedfellows and all.
But now, the Fundies have pretty much spiked what would have been a really good choice for the GOP — Tom Ridge — just because he’s pro-choice. Doesn’t Ridge need to be fuming over this, at a personal level? He’s a really accomplished Republican politician, with experience as a governor and in DC (experience which fits perfectly into McCain’s fearmongering) and he’s a very popular politician from one of the 2 most important states in this election. And he gets passed over in favor of Palin because she’s anti-choice and the Fundies won’t compromise on that.
How furious is Club for Growth going to be at Focus on the Family if McCain loses, and they blame the Palin choice? Especially if Huckabee comes out of this election as a major national GOP spokesman, the Club for Growth is going to consider a major war against the Fundies. Don’t stand between Grover Norquist and a tax cut for rich people.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:55 am
Bias, much?
I love the smell of infinite recursion in the morning.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:59 am
My question is: once she’s nominated, will McCain be able to remove her from the ticket? At that point, wouldn’t she have to willingly step down to be removed?
Legally, can’t the Electoral College vote for whomever they want?
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:59 am
I think her withdrawal could certainly be arranged. Eagleton was basically fired, at any rate. Furthermore, even if her permission is required, and she refused to give it, all that would mean is that her name would be on the ballot. The Republican electors could vote for whomever they wanted for vice president.
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:19 am
The Palin choice reminds me strongly of the nomination of Harriet Meiers to the Supreme Court by Bush. I think in both cases the choice was motivated by gender politics rather than job qualifications. I think we’re starting to see the same aghast response to Palin that ultimately scuttled Meier’s nomination. It will be interesting to see if McCain can recall her before the convention ends.
This is another sign that McCain intends to further the policies of the Bush administration. Bush has installed political cronies into positions of power throughout the government. His appointees have then used political considerations as the prime determiner of a person’s qualifications for jobs in the civil service.
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:45 am
The Palin choice reminds me strongly of the nomination of Harriet Meiers to the Supreme Court by Bush. I think in both cases the choice was motivated by gender politics rather than job qualifications. I think we’re starting to see the same aghast response to Palin that ultimately scuttled Meier’s nomination. It will be interesting to see if McCain can recall her before the convention ends.
I think Harriet Miers went down in flames not because people didn’t see her qualified but because people on the left didn’t see her as qualified and people on the right didn’t trust her politics enough to defend her. The difference here is that the religious right has fallen in love with Palin, so getting her off the ticket will be impossible unless something really awful comes out about her. The GOP seems to be circling the wagons around her in the face of all common sense.
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:49 am
Matt:
I have an assignment for you.
Answer to the question: Why did Palin agree to accept the VP nomination?
She knew all of this stuff!
Clearly, she isn’t stupid or incompetent…but she didn’t realize that her entire life would be under scrutiny? Hmm….
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:58 am
Petey:
You’re counting your chickens a bit early here.
It’s mindboggling you’re still prognosticating. For the first time in my life I feel sorry for the Republican party.
Although it would be funny if Palin turned out to be a quick study and became another Margaret Thatcher and then the joke would be on us.
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:08 am
Petey: It’s mindboggling you’re still prognosticating.
Seconded. It’s like a horoscope – amusement purposes only. But rather successful on at least that score.
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Dear god, I actually agree with Petey. I thnk it’s a little early to call the choice a “debacle.” We’ll have to see how she does in the campaign and the debates, and if they’re elected, how she does in office. She’s an unknown, so by definition, we don’t know whether she’ll be a debacle.
Unless you think the choice is a debable because her daughter is pregnant. You don’t think that, do you? Does anyone? I feel a little bad for anyone who bases their opinion of Sarah Palin on that.
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Little of topic…what’s the age of consent in Alaska? Should the father-to-be be on his way to jail at this point?
I think McCain wants to lose at this stage, and keep whatever funds he raises in his personal 527. When McCain loses, and it turns out he’s got like $25M he didn’t spend, we’ll know.
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:29 pm
According to ageofconsent.com (looks like a handy resource!), the age of consent in Alaska is 16. So Bristol Palin’s baby-daddy has nothing to worry about.
He’s only a year older than her, there’s no scandal with the age part.
That age-of-consent info was really easy to find with Google, you know. What was the point of bringing it up?
September 2nd, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Cohen is just another hysteric Dem.
This is the usual over-the-top reaction of hysterics, the same hyperventilating cretins who tried to stop Clarence Thomas because he didn’t believe in affirmative action. The big smear, learned from Matt’s mentors, Adolf & Uncle Joe.
Sarah Palin knows more about oil, gas, and energy than any candidate who ran for POTUS this year.
Hypocritical hyperbolizers like Cohen & Yglesias ignore her like a train coming down the tracks they are tied to!!
September 2nd, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Yes, it’s almost as haphazard as the Democratic party’s nomination Barack Obama.
The only answer I’ve received to repeated requests for anyone to justify Obama’s experience over Palin’s is a haughty “hrumph,” the classic liberal response to an unanswerable question. Oh, and one guy sent me a link to Obama’s resume. Classic stuff.
Barack Obama has been campaigning for President for 2/3 of his time in national office. He’s unsure of which subcommittees he’s on. And people attack Palin?
September 2nd, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Obama’s Iraq plan was endorsed by the Prime Minister of Iraq. Palin doesn’t even know what McCain’s Iraq plan is.
Maybe having stupid people carrying out stupid policies will cancel out the stupid policies. Except when it didn’t for the past seven years.
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Since when did this become a barometer of success?
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:44 pm
RH Potfry — How’s this for starters?
Obama is at this present time managing a larger organization than the Alasks state government – his election campaign. Now answer me this …
What does Sarah Palin know about tax policy? Alaska’s entire budget is paid for by oil revenue and federal subsidies (#1 in the country per capita) and does not levy taxes on its residents.
What does Sarah Palin know about dealing with a hostile legislature? Alaska’s is very republican and still slaps her down a lot. Apparently she can’t even deal with a friendly legislature.
What does she know about foreign affairs? As of last year she couldn’t formulate an opinion on the war in Iraq.
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Obama’s managing his campaign? Please. His campaign is being managed by others, like David Axelrod, who has more managerial experience than Obama. Obama’s being managed, not managing. For him to compare his election campaign to running a state government is laughable.
What does Obama know about tax policy?
And Alaskan Republicans slap Palin down? Seems to me, she chased a bunch of them out of government. What are you reading?
And– same question– what did Obama learn about foreign affairs in the year he spent in the Senate before launching his campaign? I mean, I know he sounds good, but we’re talking experience here.
Here’s the bottom line: the top of the Democratic ticket has just slightly more real-life experience in government than the bottom of the Republican ticket.
September 2nd, 2008 at 5:49 pm
RH Potfry, please, stop with this nonsense. For your sake and the sake of all good right-wing trolls everywhere. Well, okay there’s no such thing as a good right wing troll, but you get my point (or you will, soon enough).
Seriously, though. By your “logic” (yes, I’m stooping to your level, it’s a reach, my back hurts, but it’s all in good fun), then the McCain-Palin ticket should be flipped, right?
With Palin’s so-called “executive experience” (it’s really hard not to laugh typing that, with or without quotes) as a part-time mayor over a town of 6,700 and 18 months as the governor of the 4th smallest state (by population, obviously), McCain should concede she has superior qualifications (since, of course, he has none) and become her VP.
But let’s get really serious (my first “serious” wasn’t), with the Palin pick, McCain proved himself a complete tool of the theo-con wing of the Republican Party. He knew, or if he didn’t his handlers told him (probably repeatedly) he’d have an open revolt at the RNC if he didn’t have a VP with fundie credentials, he’d be sunk. As it is, he’s still sunk come November, but having Palin will make his loss slightly (emphasis on slightly) more respectable.
As for Obama, regardless of whether you want to admit it or not (understandable, too much cognitive dissonance), he know only has executive experience, having run one of, if not, the best presidential campaigns in the last quarter century(beating, no less, a favorite with money, resources, and support from the party establishment in a long, drawn-out primary), but he’s traveled extensively throughout the country, building his supporters one townhall at a time. He’s also traveled abroad (wait for the “celebrity” crack any second now), met with foreign leaders and spoken to enthusiastic crowds. His campaign is all about the ground game, as you’ll see on November 4th, a ground game dependent on a tightly run, tightly organized campaign.
Oh and do you want to compare accomplishments? Forget Palin, she’s a non-entity. It’s McCain vs. Obama. Outside of spending more time in DC (doing what? who knows?), McCain has a completely undistinguished record, first academically, then in the U.S. Navy, and in two+ decades in Congress. Campaign reform? You must be joking. Anything else? Nope, didn’t think so. Obama studied at Columbia and Harvard (”elitist” I know), not on his mother’s dime, but on scholarships and loans. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard as the President of the Harvard Law Review. And go from there, director of a community organizing project in Chicago, lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School, eight years as a state senator (where he sponsored or co-sponsored 800 bills) and another four as a U.S. Senator (he’s on the Foreign Relations Committee, heading up the subcommittee on European Affairs). Oh right, he sponsored an ethics reform bill and before running for Senate, he vigorously opposed the Iraq War when it was extremely unpopular for a politican to speak out against it.
In short, get out of my face with that weak sh*te. It won’t fly here.
September 2nd, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Fyodor: That’s got to be one of the funniest posts I’ve seen in a long time. Whether or not Obama’s campaign is good or bad is completely subjective, but I do know this: He. Is. Not. Running. It. (It may help for you to repeat it a few times in a mirror). The fact that you think he is actually running his campaign says much about your naivete.
And– even more–don’t you think it’s odd that you are forced to stoop to his campaign experience as evidence of his viability as a candidate?
I’m not saying that Sarah Palin is experienced. I’m saying that Barack Obama has about the same level of experience. Your comment did nothing to counter that.
Weak shite? You said nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just revealed yourself as yet another smitten Obama-ite.
September 2nd, 2008 at 7:19 pm
It might be nice to total up how many political appointees there are, plus how many judges, etc. that Bush chose, then list each instance of where they screwed up.
Now ask: how many Sarah Palins can we afford?
Sarah Palin was a freebie, the ultimate trial balloon. And it really isn’t about her so much as how partisan the Republicans are when it comes to defending that which cannot be defended on the merits. Palin is a total distillation of the last eight years, which is one part stupidity and nine parts rubber stamping.
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