Print This Post
Oct
3
I wrote about this exact point here and here (though not in regard to the debate).
E.J. Dionne, Jr. writes about it in today’s Washington Post column, “Hockey Mom on Thin Ice:”
This week, McCain’s backers signaled their fears that [Alaska Governor and GOP VP nominee Sarah] Palin would fail by trying to discredit the debate in advance. Although it has been known at least since July that Gwen Ifill was writing a book on “Politics and Race in the Age of Obama,” the usual right-wing attack squad waited until two days before the debate to mount a campaign to the effect that Ifill’s book project turned her into a biased moderator. In her measured questioning, Ifill showed that the attack was nonsense.
The core issue, of course, is the contrast between how [Democratic nominee Barack] Obama and [GOP nominee John] McCain chose their running mates. Say what you will about Joe Biden [Dem VP nominee]– and last night, he was far from being either the gaffe machine or the windbag so many predicted would appear on stage — no one loses sleep at the idea of his being in the Oval Office. Obama picked a vice president more likely to help him govern the country than win the chance to do so.
As for McCain, he found himself in a political hole and threw the dice with Palin. At the time of her selection, voters were often compared with “American Idol” watchers who put personality and stage presence above everything else. But it turns out that Americans take the presidency very seriously. And surviving 90 minutes on a stage with Biden did not transform Palin into a plausible president.
Repeating ad nauseum: being good at shooting from the hip or being a maverick is only valuable in certain situations under certain circumstances.
But, as an organizing principle of governing a nation of 300 million diverse people and 50 diverse states for four years, 24/7? Shooting from the hip and being mavericky are the biggest liabilities voters could possibly endorse. And our insurance on people who claim to be uniters not dividers ran out seven years ago.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:18 pm October 3rd, 2008 in Barack Obama, Debates, Joe Biden, John McCain, Politics, Sarah Palin, Vice President, Voting, WH2008, leadership
Comments
2 Responses to “Why maverickiness fails as an organizing principle of decision-making”
Leave a Reply
-
Upcoming
Girl,
You are on the MONEY!
I think they they will retire Mrs. Palin and send in their second string…Romney or Guilianni. She will step down for personal reasons and no one will fault her. She can say that her kids came first, or her State needed her. Either way, he can’t win with her and they know it. I think they always know it. They needed to generate a different kind of buzz. They did. It is backfiring…I am sure they anticipated that…send in the calvary.
Welcome to a new world order.
McCain cannot replace Palin, he dare not. She holds the religious right in place as voters and to do so would be to validate the opinion of stupidity to have selected her. He will use her as an attack dog and as a crowd draw and keep her away from uncontroled media appearances.
Getting rid of her is all loss and keeping her keeps something and the rest is a roll of the dice.