Abstinence Makes the Heart-Throb Flounder

Why on earth did John McCain select this neophyte governor and former very small town mayor with no real experience or knowledge about foreign or national domestic affairs, and no legal, economics, historical, military, or public administration expertise?

Reuters News Service is reporting this afternoon:

Bristol Palin, one of Alaska Gov. Palin's five children with her husband, Todd, is about five months pregnant and is going to keep the child and marry the father, the Palins said in a statement released by the campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Senior McCain campaign officials said McCain knew of the daughter's pregnancy when he selected Palin last week as his vice presidential running mate, deciding that it did not disqualify the 44-year-old governor in any way.
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McCain officials said the news of the daughter's pregnancy was being released to rebut what one aide called "mud-slinging and lies" circulating on liberal blog sites.

According to these rumors, Sarah Palin had faked a pregnancy and pretended to have given birth in May to her fifth child, a son named Trig who has Down syndrome. The rumor was that Trig was actually Bristol Palin's child and that Sarah Palin was the grandmother.

As we see it, the issue here isn't who got pregnant when, or even who is the mother of whom. It remains, as it always has been, why on earth did John McCain select this neophyte governor and former very small town mayor with no real experience or knowledge about foreign or national domestic affairs, and no legal, economics, historical, military, or public administration expertise?

More specifically, did McCain know what he was doing? Or, did he make a snap decision born of his famously volcanic temperament?

This has all the markings of a rash and impulsive decision, reflective of very poor judgment. As Time Magazine puts it, "On the face of it, McCain has failed the ultimate test that any presidential candidate must face in picking a running mate: selecting someone who is unambiguously qualified to be president."

It's becoming incontrovertible that the McCain campaign did not vet-- indeed, could not have vetted -- Sarah Palin before McCain hastily announced her as his pick. As Jan Crawford Greenburg reported for ABC News the other day, only one week ago did McCain turn, seriously, toward considering anyone other than Joe Lieberman.

As the New York Times is now reporting, right-wing conservatives within his own party and campaign staff vetoed Lieberman last Sunday. McCain telephoned Palin for the first time that same day. Just three days later, he made his decision.

That's barely time enough to fly up to Anchorage and back, much less visit others in the capital city of Juneau or see the City Hall of Wasilla where his nominee supposedly acquired whatever administrative skills she is alleged to possess. It also doesn't allow for any time to do real research into a potential nominee, such as reviewing hometown newspaper archives.

Now, apparently the McCain campaign is racing to make up for lost opportunity. They've dispatched a vetting team to Alaska. Too late, but we suppose better than never.

It's almost a dead certainty that more skeletons are about to come tumbling out of Sarah Palin's closet. So the McCain vetting team will have plenty to do. (And, one may suppose, plenty of original documents to destroy -- unless Alaska's records clerks are more alert than those in Texas and Alabama were some years ago.)

One can feel for Ms. Palin as well as her family. It isn't her fault. But she and hers surely will suffer the consequences of McCain's defective judgment.

What we're feeling for the Palins is true empathy. Just as they may well be undone, even destroyed, by John McCain's ungovernable temperament, so too might be the whole nation -- if he wins the election.