The Palin nomination is a complete fiasco, of course. McCain's judgment has proven once again to be shaky and erratic, and it will take months to figure out just who called the shots on this one. Bill Kristol has been banging the table for Palin for months on Fox News, so this hardly came out of the blue. James Dobson and the religious fundamentalists clearly vetted the choice (just as McCain's lawyers seemed not to have). If Rove and the fundies sank Lieberman as possibility, which is being reported, what exactly does that say about Maverick McCain? So many unanswered questions.
Barring the possibility that she will be dropped from the ticket quickly, a possibility that I find highly likely at this point, it will be interesting to see how our opinion of Sarah Palin changes between now and November. The reaction that I got from various conversations over the weekend was that the choice was puzzling, desperate, insulting and a bit creepy. All of the information that has emerged in the past two days has done nothing but reinforce the idea that this is perhaps the greatest gaffe that a Presidential candidate has ever committed. We've learned that her bold declaration of opposing the 'bridge to nowhere' is complete bunk, we've learned that she's lawyered up for her own "troopergate" scandal which calls into question abuse of executive power, and we've learned that she has links to a bizarre secessionist movement in Alaskan politics. The timing of the revelation of Bristol Palin's pregnancy will trickle out over the next few days, and my guess is that it will lead to many more questions than answers about who knew what and when.
Whether or not the mainstream press, the spinmeisters and the talking heads on Fox, MSNBC and CNN will be able to transform that impression will be fascinating to watch.
Can they convince us that this is a wise choice?
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