Sarah Palin becomes what got her nominated

October 4, 3:59 PMNewark Independent ExaminerPhilip Rachlis

Previous Next

4 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Newark Independent Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

AP Photo/ Harper

Since her nomination Sarah Palin has proved the validity of the argument that she is not and never will be, even remotely equipped to be second in line for the presidency of the United States. Coming to  this conclusion was a process for some, but even most of her Republican colleagues know she put the nail in the coffin of any argument to the contrary when she proved she could not even finish her first term as governor of Alaska. The idea of Palin as vice president would be comical at this point if the reality of how close we came to its potential occurrence was not so frightening. John McCain put this country at risk by nominating a person that he has all but  conceded he knew was not qualified for the job.

So why did an otherwise very respectable man put the country he loves at such great risk?  John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate was a calculated decision to help McCain shore up his base, a decision that he made under an enormous amount of pressure from key conservative voices. These voices came more from conservatives in the public sector and in the media then they did from other politicians. 

Let me start by pointing out that McCain has a rocky history with voices that have a huge media presence in the religious right/social conservative division of the Republican Party’s base. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Ann Coulter all used their forums to express their opposition to McCain as recently as the 2008 election’s primaries.  McCain himself was quoted as questioning which of them was his main foe.  On the eve of Super Tuesday while the Straight Talk Express was rolling down the NJ turnpike McCain said, "I'm not sure; they're all equally striving hard for first place." McCain also said, "Sometimes it surprises me, I've never, over all these years, had any encounters with them in any way, so in some ways the ferocity is, shall I say, a little surprising." when addressing the subject of his conservative critics.

Despite the efforts of his detractors, McCain did become the Republican nominee.  Limbaugh and the like then had to find a way to reconcile the situation as best they could.  Conservatives began to make it clear that they wanted McCain to start moving to the political right. When McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate, the Senator knew his critics in the media would have a reason to put their voices and support behind the ticket. Let me just sum it up using Rush Limbaugh’s words “Sarah Palin: babies, guns, Jesus. Hot damn!”

I bring this up now, over a year after Palin’s selection, because this series of events now has a potent paradox, when you look at the result today of McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin in 2008.

In an attempt to bring along the rightwing media zealots he has always has had trouble getting along with, McCain created the ultimate right wing media zealot that is the Sarah Palin we are seeing emerge today. Sarah Palin abandoned her responsibilities as Governor of Alaska so she could cash in on the speaking tour and publish a book, a book that she could not even write herself. Palin makes her arguments without facts, and she embraces controversy. She is a born right wing conservative commentator and therein is the scary irony; she will be doing to future Republican candidates what the people who wanted her nominated did to McCain.