Palin... What is the REAL issue?

In my view, a lot of the "cultural war" stuff (the anti-abortion stance, the supposed "earmark fighter" status, the "real people" image, gender, and so forth) is only the side show in the whole Palin thing. The truth about a number of those things will continue to come out but will hardly matter at all to those who have a point of view one way or another on those issues. (With some exceptions, that I may take up later.)

The real issue isn't Sarah Palin at all. The real issue in all of this is John McCain, and the questions this selection raises about his decision-making style, his judgment, and the extent to which his "maverick" reputation is anything more than a tag line. All of these are very important in assessing his qualifications for the highest office, and they also tell us something about how different a McCain administration would (not?) be from the Bush administration. And, of course, these questions are central to this election.

By all reports McCain felt strongly that he wanted a very different vice president candidate on his ticket. Most reports are that he had essentially settled on Joseph Lieberman. That would have been a very interesting choice and while Lieberman carries some baggage, to be sure, he also could reinforce the notion that McCain would not be a continuation of Bush, that he really does want to diminish the destructive partisanship of the last eight years, and that he truly is a "maverick." But apparently the right wing base of the Republican party would hear none of this - it would be a religious right, anti-choice, pro-gun right wing candidate or they would threaten to not give him their total support.

Despite the campaign's claims (and we know better than to take convention statements from either party at face value) it is clear that the Palin choice was a last-minute punt. While other potential running mates - apparently a long list including some highly qualified women and men from across the Republican spectrum - were apparently the subject of intense discussions and research for months, Palin was dismissed from consideration early on and McCain has no significant contact with or knowledge of her or her politics. One almost gets the impression that McCain was so fed up with the adamant and contrary positions of those involved in the selection that he essentially said, "What the hell! Make it Palin then!" without nearly the thought or care that usually leads to such important decisions.

An important context to keep in mind is that McCain's "maverick" reputation comes partly from supposedly being willing to depart from the conventional party line, partly from being willing to reach across the aisle to the other party, and partly from making "from the gut" and quick decisions rather than thinking them through carefully. Each of those points is significant and what happened with this selection causes concerns related to each.

What does it suggest about his willingness to depart from the "party line" and "reach across" to work with folks who might usually be seen as opponents? I think it tells us a lot, and it is not good news. I would think that a "maverick" who has a reputation for "straight talk" would tell the far right folks in his party to take a walk. It is clearer than it has been in decades that the extremist far right agenda is not going to play with Americans in this election. Yet it seems that McCain simply went along, apparently at least partly in an attempt to gain credibility with the extreme right in his party. If anything in this approaches "reaching across the aisle," it is what appears to be a very cynical attempt to link the Palin candidacy with the understandable desire to see a woman president that was a component of the Clinton candidacy for the Democratic nomination. But it is very hard to see how Palin could attract as many of those voters as she will lose for other reasons - and it is even more difficult to understand how McCain would have seen this particular Republican as being the most qualified candidate when there are so many other Republican women who have much more substantial resumes.

To some extent, those could be written off as being mostly relevant to internal Republican party decisions - who runs the party, who gives in to whom, what qualifications matter there and what qualifications do not. But there are elements in all of this that should concern every American, especially in light of the debacle of the past eight years - which notably have included a President who doesn't seem to get all of the facts straight, a President who all too often has made disastrous decisions based on a personal gut instinct, an administration plagued by extremist insiders forcing decisions that match up with their views and those of their backers but not the majority views of the American people, a preference for creating divisive "cultural war" mini-issues rather than dealing with the actual issues (economy, education, Iraq, Iran, etc.), and a tendency to not come clean. I see plenty of evidence that all of this is still alive and well in the current campaign - and compared to any personal details of Sarah Palin's politics and life these are far more important issues in this election.