McCain chooses Gov. Sarah Palin as his Veep choice

Now we know who is McCain's running rate: a woman with oil drilling influence. McCain is playing the woman and oil drilling card if you haven't figured it out by now. If Obama chose Hillary as his running mate, I don't think he would have went with a woman as his running mate. He was trying to see who Obama pick. Because Obama chose Biden and some of the Hillary supporter were miffed about it, McCain is seizing the opportunity to steal thise disgruntled Hillary supporters over to his side. But, this will backfire on him. It is not because he chose a woman but the corruption within Alaska with the known names that are indicted or under investigation. This will be an interesting Presidential race. This is an equal match: Obama who is 47 years old and Palin who is 44.

Here is some information on Palin.

Thinkprogress:

Palin is anti-choice and is a member of an “anti-abortion group called Feminists for Life.” In 2002, when she was running for lieutenant governor, “Palin sent an e-mail to the anti-abortion Alaska Right to Life Board saying she was as ‘pro-life as any candidate can be’ and has ‘adamantly supported our cause since I first understood, as a child, the atrocity of abortion.’”
Newsweek reports some more biographical details:



Among other things, she supports drilling in Alaska, with limits, she’s pro-life and she’s a fiscal conservative. … Plus, Palin’s an interesting character: a former beauty queen, she was a star high school basketball player (she was known as “Sarah Barracuda” for her intense play). Palin married her childhood sweetheart, a blue collar oil field worker (who is on leave, so as not to create a conflict of interest). She hunts, she fishes, and earlier this year, she posed for Vogue.

Palin has never been to Iraq.

“Speaking with evident condescension” earlier this year, John McCain assaulted Barack Obama for having visited Iraq only once. (Obama subsequently visited Iraq for a second time recently.) “Sen. Obama has been to Iraq once,” he said, “my friends, this is about leadership and learning.” Over on the Wonk Room, Matt Duss notes that McCain’s VP pick Sarah Palin has apparently never visited Iraq, though she does have a son who will deploy there next month. “McCain has shortchanged the issue which he himself insists is the most important — national security,” Duss writes.

Palin’s scandal envelops her in the constellation of scandal-plagued lawmakers currently serving in Alaska. Here’s a brief overview:

Sen. Ted Stevens: Last month, long-serving Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was indicted by a federal grand jury “with seven counts of making false statements for failing to disclose” gifts of over $250,000 from the oil services company VECO Corp.

State Sen. Ben Stevens (R): The senator’s son, Stevens is being investigated by the FBI for his involvement in “an alleged payment scheme involving fisheries legislation brought by his father.” When VECO’s Bill Allen “pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy charges, he stated that almost a quarter of a million dollars in consulting fees paid to the younger Stevens was in fact bribery.”

Rep. Don Young (R): Last year, it was revealed that the senior House Republican was “under criminal investigation” involving “possible political favors for a company in Alaska.” In April, Young’s legal fees exceeded $1 million.

Last month, after Stevens was indicted, Palin refused to call for his resignation, saying that he had "dedicated his life to the betterment of the state." She had previously called for another indicted lawmaker to resign.

And there is more. Palin is under investigation herself:

But Palin’s reformer image took a hit last month when she was accused of attempting to get a state trooper fired. That state trooper was her former brother-in-law who had gone through “a messy divorce” with her sister. After the trooper’s boss wouldn’t act on the governor’s request, she fired him. Though Palin says she doesn’t “have anything to hide” and she “didn’t do anything wrong there,” an investigation has found that one of her aides pushed the firing:

Gov. Sarah Palin on Wednesday revealed an audio recording that shows an aide pressuring the Public Safety Department to fire a state trooper embroiled in a custody battle with her sister.

Palin, who has previously said her administration didn’t exert pressure to get rid of trooper Mike Wooten, also disclosed that members of her staff had made about two dozen contacts with public safety officials about the trooper.

Reactions:

Rahm Emmanuel pretty much sums it up:

“After trying to make experience the issue of this campaign, John McCain celebrated his 72nd birthday by appointing a former small town mayor and brand new Governor as his Vice Presidential nominee. Is this really who the Republican Party wants to be one heartbeat away from the Presidency? Given Sarah Palin’s lack of experience on every front and on nearly every issue, this Vice Presidential pick doesn’t show judgement: it shows political panic.”

Andrew Sullivan says:
(C)ompare McCain’s pick with Obama’s: a man with solid foreign policy experience, six terms in Washington and real relationships with leaders across the globe.

One pick is by a man of judgment; the other is by a man of vanity.

She may be a fine person, but she’s my age, she has zero Washington experience, and no foreign policy expertise whatsoever.

McCain has just told us how seriously he takes the war we are in. Not seriously at all.

Below is a statement from Obama Campaign Spokesman Bill Burton on Senator McCain choosing Governor Palin:

"Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same," said Bill Burton, Obama Campaign Spokesman.

Below is a statement from Senator Obama and Senator Biden on Governor Palin...

"We send our congratulations to Governor Sarah Palin and her family on her designation as the republican nominee for Vice President. It is yet another encouraging sign that old barriers are falling in our politics. While we obviously have differences over how best to lead this country forward Governor Palin is an admirable person and will add a compelling new voice to this campaign," said Senator Barack Obama and Senator Joe Biden.