Following the McCain camp’s decision to name Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as Senator McCain’s Vice Presidential nominee, America became split, but for how long?
Was Governor Palin the best choice or one intended to simply upset the apple cart and show how ill-prepared Senator Obama is to be President? Will the strategy back-fire, or have the Republican’s cinched the next election?
What about Obama’s choice of Senator Joe Biden of Delaware? Was his choice any the wiser? Though well respected within the Democratic Party, the choice left about a third of Senator Hillary Clinton’s supporters in a vacuum, wondering which way to turn.
Few of those will likely vote for Palin because she’s a woman, and most will look at economics, not reform as their primary concerns. However, the Biden selection may have cost the Obama campaign a huge voting block essential to swing states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Indiana, just to name a few.
While Governor Palin is clearly an unknown entity, she’s only stirring up the right-wing conservatives within the Republican Party, and leaving a lot of moderates scratching their heads wondering what McCain was thinking.
Palin’s choice did one thing – it created a media storm of attention on the McCain campaign, bolstering his position in the polls. Whether he can hold on to a statistical dead-heat or win is only to be determined on November 4th, but he certainly has stolen lots of thunder from the Obama campaign.
Of course, Senator Clinton does have some bragging rights, though she’s too savvy to say “I told you so”. McCain’s choice has clearly rattled Obama, just as both Senator and former President Clinton said they would. He has shown a level of political inexperience an naivety many Democrats are worried about now. Fortunately, Biden can anchor him with years of solid experience and leadership – something McCain’s choice lacks in the extreme.
Our main concern here at the Institute, of course is economics and thus we’re of the opinion that the Obama ticket would offer greater economic strength in managing the looming economic crisis than the McCain team ever could.
