Thread: What Palin's cop-out says about McCain

What Palin's cop-out says about McCain

Plain Talk By Al Neuharth, USA TODAY Founder

Gov. Sarah Palin's melodramatic abandonment of her job in Alaska has gotten the attention of much of the nation. But it received only a brief canned comment from the man who picked her to be his candidate for vice president.

Palin's pullout tells us as much about Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as it does about her.

Both are self-proclaimed "mavericks." I admire people who don't just follow the norm but look for new and better ways to do things. But when maverickism leads to irresponsible or nutty behavior, it loses me.

When McCain picked Palin as his running mate, he really didn't know her very well and his staff hadn't properly vetted her.

Some say McCain chose her as a shocker partly because he was piqued at some Republican Party leaders who had nixed his also maverick idea of Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut as his veep candidate.

Since the election, many of McCain's former aides have leaked critical comments about Palin's campaign ineffectiveness. McCain himself has properly refrained from that.

But this week, after she decided to throw in the towel as governor, McCain issued a statement that expressed his "respect and affection" for her and said he hopes "she will continue to play an important leadership role in the Republican Party."

McCain should be put in this perspective:

• He ran the worst major party presidential campaign since Democrat George McGovern in 1972.

• His biggest blunder was in picking Palin.

McCain should always be remembered with gratitude for his military service in the Vietnam War. But the Republican Party might be better off if he followed Palin's example and abandoned his Arizona U.S. Senate seat.

New GOP faces are more likely to go places.

Other views on Sarah Palin

"Lazy opiners always deem winners-brilliant, losers-idiots. 2008 real data show Sarah Palin kick-started McCain's campaign; the September economic chaos slammed the brakes on."

— Mary Matalin, former Bush White House adviser

"Sure, McCain ran a poor campaign and choosing Palin, while popular with his base, reinforced a sense of impulsiveness. But he is an outstanding American, much needed where he serves now."

— David Gergen, CNN senior political analyst and professor at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government

Posted at 12:17 AM/ET, July 10, 2009 in Forum commentary, Plain Talk, Politics - Forum

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/index.html

If McCain hadn't been so pro open borders, I would have voted for him. Palin certainly didn't help. She was just TOO ignorant!

Obama recently went to Russia, and he could see Palin packing up her office in Alaska!