McCain's Been Running Longer Than Palin's Been Governing

by: Chris Bowers

Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 19:30


Here is a fun fact: John McCain has been running for President longer than Sarah Palin has been governing. McCain announced his exploratory committee on November 13th, 2006:

McCain to Form Committee To Explore White House Bid

By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 13, 2006; Page A08

Sen. John McCain of Arizona said he will form an exploratory committee as the first step toward a possible run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008.

Palin took office three weeks later, on December 4th, 2006:

Palin was also the first Alaskan governor born after Alaska achieved U.S. statehood and the first not to be inaugurated in Juneau, instead choosing to hold her inauguration ceremony in Fairbanks. She took office on December 4, 2006.

This is probably the first time in history that a presidential nominee has chosen a Vice-President who has governed for less than the candidate has been campaigning.

Update: It also turns out that during McCain's entire campaign, he has never been to Alaska. Since he has been campaigning longer than she has been governing, it is hard to believe that they have met many times. This pick is entirely political and superficial.

Update 2: Turns out they only met once before McCain offered her the VP slot:

John McCain first met Sarah Palin only six months ago and had just one conversation with the Alaska governor before offering her the vice presidential slot on the Republican ticket, the Arizona senator's campaign said Friday.

One meeting to pick possibly the next leader of the country? Nice judgment call, McCain.  

Chris Bowers :: McCain's Been Running Longer Than Palin's Been Governing

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McCain's Been Running Longer Than Palin's Been Governing | 26 comments
I love this! (4.00 / 1)
I hope to see this fact repeated over and over again.

It hits her on experience extremely hard without using any of the buzzwords used against Obama, shielding him from experience backlash.  Bizarre is right.

Time, shmime (0.00 / 0)
If I can comment on this post an hour before it exists, why can't McCain run with a governor that wasn't even a governor when he started the campaign?  :-)
[ Parent ]
Agnew? (0.00 / 0)

Don't take it too far (4.00 / 3)

 Nixon WON with Agnew, after all.

 I would NOT underestimate the effectiveness of the Palin pick. Fundies are wetting their pants over her.

 

"We judge ourselves by our ideals; others by their actions. It is a great convenience." -- Howard Zinn

[ Parent ]
I agree (0.00 / 0)
but it's up to non-Obama people but Obama supporters to make this case to the media so that the points can get out there but they're not coming from the Obama camp themselves.  
[ Parent ]
I wonder what the top military brass are thinking right now (0.00 / 0)
Is Sarah Palin ready to be Commander in Chief? Ready to assume control of the US military in the event of an emergency?

Does she have the strategic international knowledge that a president needs to make wartime decisions? To act on guidance from the Joint Chiefs? We are at war after all.

Is she skilled in the international diplomacy? Ready to go head to head with Russia, China, India, Europe leaders? Negotiate treaties and agreements? I think the U.S. still does that kind of thing ... or maybe not anymore.

This hockey mom from Wasilla is commander of the Alaskan National Guard, she reminded us today. Does that impress the Pentagon?  

I'm still going with the theory this is not about Nov08 (4.00 / 2)
This is about revitalizing the Republican Party for the future.  She presents an image of a wholesome, ethical reform bulldog, classic conservative.  Allows the GOP opportunities to spin the defeat as being a result of sexism, discrimination, etc...repeatedly pointing to the fact that while the Democratic party shunned Hillary, they put a woman on the ticket.

As I talked about more extensively in a diary...this smacks of "Head of State" strategery.

http://www.openleft.com/showDi...

Yeah, reformist ... (0.00 / 0)
... and the subject of an ethics probe that wraps up days before the election.  Magnifique!
[ Parent ]
He doesn't even know her! (4.00 / 2)
I heard on the tee vee that they've only met like once or twice.

This is the most blatantly superficial pick - ever?

Actually, something I wonder about (0.00 / 0)
Says here that

Governor Murkowski appointed Palin Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission,[13] where she served from 2003 to 2004 until resigning in protest over what she called the "lack of ethics" of fellow Alaskan Republican leaders, who ignored her whistleblowing complaints of legal violations and conflicts of interest.

Exactly how long was this "2003 to 2004" period? It would be interesting if it turned out she's spent more time on the Oil Commission than she has as governor.

could this mean (0.00 / 0)
that the d word is in play about mccain, that might just explain a lot about this out of body pick, oh yea the d word, why dementia of course, what did you expect democracy, from a wingnut, c'mon now!
please please please Tina Fey (4.00 / 2)
Make some time in your schedule for SNL cameos this fall. Only you can do it right:


Not Tina, Karen! (0.00 / 0)
From Will & Grace. She even sounds like her.  
[ Parent ]
I am frightened. (4.00 / 2)

  We can laugh at Sarah Palin all we want, but there's a very scary possibility here -- if John McCain gets into the White House, and something happens while he's president (and he's 72 and in dubious health), then this utterly unqualified, ultra-far-right-wing woman will become the most powerful person on the planet.

  And frankly, that scares the crap out of me. Much more than an occasional random attack from a terrorist group. Al-Qaida can only blow up a building. Sarah Palin can blow up the whole country.

  This is such an unbelievably reckless, unhinged decision by John McCain. He's playing games with the country's future to score short-term political points. And this isn't a decision to, say, cut taxes or intervene militarily somewhere that reasonable people might sincerely believe is in the country's best interests. This is John McCain risking America's entire future because he wants to get elected.

  I thought that John McCain, misguided as he was, operated from a core belief that he had America's best interests at heart. I no longer believe that. And that, frankly, gives me the shivers -- that we might very well hand the keys to our nation's future to an egotistical, deranged, power-hungry man.

 McCain is too dangerous to be allowed to run this country. I hope that this Palin stunt has triggered a few alarm bells in the power structure, to the point that he won't be allowed to win.  

"We judge ourselves by our ideals; others by their actions. It is a great convenience." -- Howard Zinn

The good thing is (4.00 / 2)
it will also scare the crap out of many voters who were one the fence or a little iffy about Obama.
[ Parent ]
The more you read .. (0.00 / 0)
the more you realize that McCain's crew didn't vet her at all .. it makes you wonder when exactly .. they made the pick .. and what exactly they are trying to accomplish .. she is so nutty .. James Dobson came out today .. and said yes .. he'll vote for Cranky McSame after all .. she knows nothing about foreign policy .. only that her son is going off to Iraq in a few weeks(and will he really be allowed to go now?) ... Master Jack is right .. it's really frakin' scary
[ Parent ]
I think they made the pick (0.00 / 0)
after McCain finally vetoed his staff on picking Romney and McCain's staff finally vetoed McCain on picking Lieberman.

Which was probably somewhere between minute 10 and minute 30 of Obama's acceptance speech.  

[ Parent ]
DO NOT be scared. (0.00 / 0)
I firmly believe that John McCain just turned this into a landslide for us.

1) He's just thrown his best argument against Obama out of the window.

2) The only Hillary diehards that will support McCain for this are the ones that are actually Republicans already.

3) Independents realize that this woman IS NOT CREDIBLE as President. They will see this for the purely hollow political choice that it is.

4) This woman is NOT an experienced national campaigner.


[ Parent ]
Can someone with more institutional memory than me (0.00 / 0)
talk a little about the Ferraro pick? This Palin pick seems more and more to parallel that one. A desperate attempt to shake things up, but also just exactly that...desperate.

Was Ferraro pretty qualified? I know she was a congresswoman, but that's about it. And that her husband had ethics problems that caused a lot of heartburn (hmm...shades of trooper-gate in AK?). But that's all I really know.  

[ Parent ]
there are some similarities (0.00 / 0)
main one being an underdog Presidential nominee who felt the need to take a chance.

Ferraro was 5 years old and had already served 6 years in Congress when she was picked. She also had a law degree. I think she was objectively more qualified but some people think "executive experience" is worth a lot. But when you've been Governor of a small-population state for 1.5 years how does that make you ready to be President?

[ Parent ]
5 years older I mean (ha ha) (4.00 / 1)

[ Parent ]
Doesn't scare the crap out of me (0.00 / 0)
Frankly, if we Democrats screw this election up, then we deserve exactly the fate you outlined.  I would almost be disappointed if the penalty were less severe.

Things You Don't Talk About in Polite Company: Religion, Politics, the Occasional Intersection of Both
[ Parent ]
Palin's Travels (4.00 / 1)
Considering that Obama's travels abroad were under such scrutiny, perhaps someone should ask to see Palin's passport.  
Does she even have one? (4.00 / 1)

[ Parent ]
Travel (0.00 / 0)
I'm sure she must have travelled to Canada. But where else has she travelled?  
[ Parent ]
Fantastic post (4.00 / 2)
This fact is so revealing.

To think, Republicans claim she's "more experienced" than Obama! You know, I really thought Obama's experience was going to be a problem this election, and rightfully so, but this pick completely eradicates it.

20 months as governor of one of the smallest states in the country!? Obama's resume may be thin, but he was in the statehouse for 8 years and he has been firmly on the national stage as a prominent Senator for the last 4 years. We know what he thinks about every major issue. Palin has taken almost no national positions, and those that she did take, conflicted with McCain's.

This choice is a sick joke, something that indicates McCain truly despises the American people and believes they'll swallow anything he shoves their way. What a contemptible man and what an irresponsible, hypocritical choice. I am more convinced than I have ever been that McCain is a loser and the American people can smell it. He is not winning with this ticket, and if he does, god help us all.

McCain's Been Running Longer Than Palin's Been Governing | 26 comments
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