Monday, March 30, 2009

McCain Refuses to Say Whether He Would Support Palin in 2012

Would Sarah Palin make a good president? At least one person isn’t sure – her former running mate.

According to Politico, Arizona Senator John McCain dodged and weaved when asked Sunday during an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press whether he would support the Alaska governor if she chose to make a run for the presidency in 2012.

First, Meet the Press host David Gregory asked the man who ran as the Republican Party’s candidate in the 2008 election if he would “like to see” Palin become president.

"I'd like to see her compete. I think we got some very good candidates," McCain said before giving the names of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, and Utah Gov. John Huntsman.

When Gregory asked McCain point-blank if he would support Palin if she entered 2012 GOP primary, Mr. Straight Talk gave the usual ass-covering response: “I'd have to see who the candidates are and what the situation is at the time."

This is something McCain apparently didn’t do in 2008. Who says the elderly are slow?

What an odd thing for the senator to say about a woman he chose to run for the second-highest job in the land. After al, they say the vice president is just one heartbeat away from the presidency, and in Palin’s case, this was literally true, as her running mate was old enough to have crossed the Alps with Hannibal.

Of course, I’m being sarcastic. I’m really not this naïve. I have learned enough about presidential elections to know that when you are running for the Big Job and are deciding on a ticket partner, you pick the person who will help you get elected, not the person you like.

Still, given this, why did McCain pick The Hockey Mom. Why did he think she would help him with the voters? Who was his campaign strategist, James Carville?

22 comments:

  1. It is completely normal. We are almost 4 years away from the next presidential election and a lot can change politically between now and then. Palin could become a liability or other candidates could rise. Generally, the early favorite for president never wins. Witness the destruction of Hillary Clinton's campaign as an example or James Gilmore from Virginia on the Republican side.

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  2. The Palin-plan backfired for McCain. I think he picked her because they thought the move would play well with independents. Ironically, it did the exact opposite, securing the uneasy G.O.P. base but not playing all that well with independent voters.

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  3. "I think he picked her because they thought the move would play well with independents."

    I think he picked to shore up the base. After all, why the hell would independents vote for her? Ok, ok, i voted for her, but then I'm crazy. And i just didn't like Obama.

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  4. This is where I'd rather see angry fire breathing, calling his wife the c-word McCain than that classy guy who gave that concession speech on election night. Throw that scary woman under the friggin' bus, John! Think about it, you've got a couple of good years left and a shitload of money to enjoy a retirement. There's never a better time than now to burn some bridges to nowhere.

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  5. The Palin selection clearly gained votes for McCain with the conservative base, and clearly cost him votes with independents. In the end, I don't think he could have picked anyone who would have made enough of a difference to change the outcome. The Democratic nominee was destined to beat the Republican nominee in 2008.

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  6. You're absolutely right Kirk. McCain could have picked Jesus Christ himself and he still would have lost the election.

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  7. I don't agree with that at all. There were a lot of angry Hillary supporters out there that felt she got the shaft. Had he picked a moderate Republican like Snowe and moved away from Bush towards the center before Obama did, he might well have won. Instead, he moved towards Bush and the religious right and, like Bush in Iraq, he had no plan when the economy went to hell. Because of that and his choice of the rabble-rousing ignoramus Palin as VP and his move to the right, he lost.

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  8. "Had he picked a moderate Republican like Snowe and moved away from Bush towards the center before Obama did, he might well have won."

    Oldfart how many times do i have to explain to you why MCCAIN WOULD HAVE LOST EVEN IF HE HAD PICKED SNOWE. I love her too and would have been happy to vote for her instead of Scary Sarah but Mac could have picked her and moved to the fucking far left for all the good it would have done him. Yes, there were many female Hillary supporters who were pissed at Obama, but many of these women are pro-choice and would have seen thru McCain's ploy a mile away because in the end, they know what the his and Snowe's party stands for. And as I've pointed out before, McCain would have lost his base if he had picked Snowe and if you're running for prez, you need at least most of your base in these days of close elections. He would not have been able to make up the difference with independents or liberals because of the reason i just outlined above. And don't forget to mention the economic crisis, which would have been a blow to the kneecap of whoever was representing the current party in power. Add to that, Bush and the GOP's unpopularity and the desire for many people for a new beginning.

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  9. The only way any Republican could have beat Obama is if some news came out about Obama that was SO highly negative that people (and the media) became disillusioned with him. Think Blagojevich-negative. The Ayers-Wright-Rezko revelations were the best horse the Republicans had to ride, and they came up short.

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  10. "The only way any Republican could have beat Obama is if some news came out about Obama that was SO highly negative"

    That or if BO had announced he was a gay atheist Muslim. That'll usually rile up the electorate.

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  11. If McSame had moved towards the center and picked a centrist or moderate running mate, I might have voted for him. Except he sold himself out supporting Bush way before this election, even to the point where he sold out his anti-torture position. I would not have believed him, but many would have. Obama didn't win by that much. As for his base, who the hell else were they going to vote for?

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  12. "I might have voted for him."

    Are you fucking kidding me? You've said before that you wished he had picked Snowe, but this is the first time I've actually heard you say that. You mean to say that if he had gone with Snowe and moved to the center, you would have voted for him over Obama and Biden? Why? Given your views, i would have thought that the Democratic ticket would have come closer what you believe than a McCain-Snowe ticket, even if you were disappointed that Hillary was defeated in the primaries.

    "Except he sold himself out supporting Bush way before this election, even to the point where he sold out his anti-torture position."

    To be fair to McCain, he felt he had to suck up to his base because he probably figured, as i did, that he wouldn't have gotten many independents, especially after he chose Palin. And if he actually thought he could woo female supporters of Hillary with the hockey mom, then either he was smoking something potent or had a senior moment. And I too was disappointed with his reversal on the torture issue.
    I know I rip on Mac a lot but there are some things I like about him, obviously, otherwise I wouldn’t have voted for him. I admittedly lean a bit to the right, but I would NEVER have voted for Huckabee, Guliani, Thompson, or Romney.
    Still, Oldfart, I don’t know why you’re so hung up on Snowe. If McCain wanted to go moderate, he should have gone with Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle. Like Snowe, she isn’t a right-wing nut and like Palin (and unlike Snowe) she is relatively young (okay 55, but that makes still makes her McCain’s junior by a good 5 centuries) and she’s as far away from the capital as one could possibly get and so would have been free of that Washington stink. And unlike Palin, she’s extremely thoughtful and intelligent.

    “Obama didn't win by that much.”

    I don’t know, 7 percent is a pretty comfortable lead. It’s not a landslide but it’s a hell of a lot more than anything Bush got.

    “As for his base, who the hell else were they going to vote for?”

    Well, they would have probably either stayed home (as they have done in past elections when they were pissed at the GOP) or pulled the lever for Barr. I don’t think you understand just how crazy these conservative Christians can get.

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  13. Hey! I voted for Nixon. I was a John Bircher when I joined the Army. I have my own little right wing fantasies. They don't last long and I never reach the "true believer" stage but had McCain gotten away from his neocon and religious fanatic base, I would have honestly considered him.

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  14. "Hey! I voted for Nixon."

    It's interesting that liberals piss on Tricky Dick so much considering he was probably the most liberal president we had since Johnson, what with wage and price controls, affirmative action, forced desegregation in the South, women and Indian rights, the EPA, the Clean Air Act, the proposed guaranteed income for poor families, detente with the Soviet Union, and the opening to China. Watergate was wrong but i don't think it was nearly as bad as some of the things LBJ and JFK did, like bugging civil rights leaders (which is illegal, if I'm not mistaken).

    "I was a John Bircher when I joined the Army."

    Wow, and you attacked me for praising McCarthy!
    It sounds like you started out as a right-winger and moved to the left later in life. What changed your mind?

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  15. Oldfart, did you grow up in a Christian conservative family? Was it in Kansas?

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  16. LOL! Hell no!
    I grew up in the Army-Air Force until 1953 when my parents got divorced and my mother was forced to send the 3 of us to an Episcopalian school for children for broken homes in the beautiful countryside of New York State near Poughkeepsie. In later years the school was taken over by Baptists from Bob Jones University but I was already an agnostic by then and did nothing but laugh at them.

    I didn't realize what the Birchers were before I joined them. Thought they were some kind of patriotic organization. Unlike Ron Paul, it didn't take me long to figure out what they really were.

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  17. "In later years the school was taken over by Baptists from Bob Jones Universit"

    Wow, that must have been a bloody coup. Did the BoJo's conduct the water test on you to see if you were a male witch?

    "Thought they were some kind of patriotic organization."

    Sen. Robert Byrd says the same thing when asked why joined an obscure called the Ku Klux Klan. lol

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  18. McCain should support Palin in 2012. She is the best thing to happen to the Republican Party since, well...er...give me a moment, I am sure I can find something to compare Palin to without losing my lunch.

    Palin was a perfect complement to the ticket. With her by his side McCain easily won the swing states he needed to win, like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida, oh wait. But I mean he carried the traditional reds like Indiana, Virginia, and North Carolina. Oh, dang. But at least he didn't lose any western states like Nevada, New Mexico, and Colorado. God, I feel sick.

    But even if Palin can't win any of those states, she can still win by picking up all those imaginary states, which I am sure she believes in. You know the ones. They're right next to the Africa country on the map.

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  19. "she can still win by picking up all those imaginary states, which I am sure she believes in."

    The only states Palin wuold win are the states of Hysteria and Denial.

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  20. I don't know if Palin can still see Russia from her office on a clear day but North Korea can now see Alaska from Pyongyang.

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