As McCain chooses running mate, Palin speculation mounts
August 29th, 2008
The McCain campaign was keeping its vice presidential pick closely guarded this morning, but that didn’t stop the rumors from flying. One name frequently heard: Alaska governor Sarah Palin. Palin’s youngest child has Down syndrome.
McCain’s announcement is expected this morning at a rally in Dayton, Ohio. CNN reported that a private jet from Alaska arrived Thursday night at an airport near Dayton, fueling speculation that Palin would be McCain’s pick.
Palin’s spokesperson told ABC News that Palin would be attending the state fair in Anchorage today.
Robert Barnes and Michael Shear of the Washington Post said all the talk could be a “head fake” by the McCain campaign, but said that Karl Rove had endorsed Palin on Fox News, calling her a “breath of fresh air.”
The New York Times’ Liz Bumiller reported that the speculation was met with “bewilderment” from McCain advisers, who said that Palin’s relative lack of executive experience would undercut one of the campaign’s key criticisms of Obama — that he is too inexperienced for the job.
“While it’s a dramatic and interesting choice, it would make the argument he’s making difficult to make,” said one McCain adviser.
Sarah Palin has served less than two years as her state’s governor. She has cast herself as a political maverick, conservative and reformer who defied Alaska’s GOP establishment. The 44-year-old mother of five is a favorite of social conservatives for her opposition to abortion. A former high school athlete (basketball) and beauty queen, she has approval ratings in her state that are off the charts. She hunts, she fishes, and she was named America’s hottest governor by Alaska Magazine.
Alaska has three electoral votes.
See reports from CNN, the Washington Post, Politico.com, ABC News, Los Angeles Times blog, and the New York Times blog. Reports were also heard on Fox and NPR.
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August 29th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
She’s too far right for even the Bush Administation in her views:
1) She supports teaching creationism in the classroom calling it a “healthy debate.”
2) She supports off shore drilling and takes a reckless disregard for progress in the environmental field.
3) She supports controversial research claiming global warming is a hoax.
4) She supports religious intolerance by using her own religious beliefs as a tool to which everyone else must measure up.