A phase that would pass
Does it make sense to see McCain as The Good Wing of the Republicans? The New Yorker toys with the question:
McCain spent the months after Trump’s Inauguration on an international reassurance tour, telling overseas allies the story that some Republicans in Washington were telling themselves—that Trump’s authoritarianism would be constrained by those around him, that this was a phase that would pass.
Or to put it another way, “It’s not our fault.”
“He has a lot of faith in Mattis,” Salter said, of James Mattis, the Secretary of Defense. In February, 2017, at the Munich Security Conference, an annual meeting of Western military officers and defense officials, McCain, without naming the President, delivered a broadside against Putin, Trump, and the national retrenchments across the West that struck some valedictory notes. “I refuse to accept that our values are morally equivalent to those of our adversaries,” McCain said. “I am a proud, unapologetic believer in the West, and I believe we must always, always stand up for it.”
Salter said, “That speech was really, ‘Hey, this thing we’ve done together is the greatest thing an alliance of nations has ever done in history. Be proud of it. It’s worth preserving. Don’t give up on us.’ ” Of course the nativism he so despised had taken hold of his own political party, and his choice of Sarah Palin as his Vice-Presidential nominee marked an obvious pivot toward Trumpism.
Indeed it was. His repudiation of it came a good deal too late.
In his defense (sort of), I don’t think McCain knew Palin was going to go that route (or at least as far down it). By most accounts at the end of the campaign he was not a fan of what she was doing. Then she quit her governor job and somehow turned into a right-wing sensation. I still can’t believe how big she got and how long it took to fade (which it finally, mercifully, did).
In the context of what we have, he’s part of the Good Wing of the Republicans.
McCain knew she was an ignoramus with absolutely no real qualifications for being president (which a VP should always have in case the president is out of action). There’s no excuse for putting an empty bladder like that on the ticket. I don’t give a fuck that he “was no fan” of her activities later on; he never replaced her.
“Empty bladder”? LOL.
Palin was seen as a centrist Republican governor that was willimg to buck the establishment and do what was right for the people of Alaska.
She didn’t become governor by simply winning the Republican primary in an open primary in a state where Republicans were dominant. Rather, she defeated the incumbent Republican in the primaries on an anti-corruption platform, then went on topple the Democratic who outspent her, becoming the youngest and first female governor of Alaska. This was exciting stuff!
As governor, she increased spending while cutting the budget and pushing for anti-corruption laws. Hey, more spending, less waste, and less corruption? What more could anybody want?
This was the person McCain added to his ticket. Some have suggested that he became inappropriately enamored with her on a personal level. It may be. But at this point she looked like the exciting future of the Republican party.
Very soon afterwards, he realized she was a train wreck. She couldn’t do a simple media interview, her knowledge of politics was very limited, and she flat-out had a nervous breakdown and locked herself into her hotel room until she was assured she’d be protected going forward.
McCain at that point made the calculation that he could protect her and possibly still win, but if he dropped her he’d lose for sure. So that’s what he did.
When has a VP candidate ever exploded in popularity after a loss like that? Let’s see:
2016: Tim Kaine — no
2012: Paul Ryan — no
2008: Sarah Palin — yes
2004: John Edwards — no
2000: Joe Lieberman — no
1998: Jack Kemp — no
1992: Dan Quayle — no
1988: Lloyd Bentsen — no
I can go on, but I’ll stop there. I think the point is made that McCain couldn’t have reasonably expected the VP candidate on his losing ticket to create a sensation that would lead to a movment that would give us Trump.
What utter bollocks. You say Palin “was seen” as blah blah blah as if it were universal when it was no such thing. Then you announce that she looked like the exciting future, again as if that were universal. You then let McCain off the hook for choosing an ignorant right-wing zealot. Bullshit all the way down.
I always got the feeling that Palin was foisted on McCain by the RNC, looking to broaden the ticket’s appeal by putting a younger woman on the ticket, and with little more than a summary of her accomplishments (like Skeletor’s list up there), carefully crafted to paper over the vast inadequacies. And then, when it became almost immediately obvious that she was unfit for the role of dogcatcher, let alone VP, he was unable to buck the evangelical wing of the party, which adored her.
Which means that if McCain is part of the ‘Good Wing’ of the Republican Party, it should really be named the ‘Too Little, Too Late Wing’. They tut endlessly, but never actually do jack shit until said jack shit is clearly going to happen with or without them, then they try to take credit for finally doing the right thing.
Or the No Good in a Knife Fight wing of the Republican Party. Or the All Hat and No Cattle wing of the Republican Party.
“And then, when it became almost immediately obvious that she was unfit for the role of dogcatcher, let alone VP, he was unable to buck the evangelical wing of the party, which adored her.”
Did McCain talk to her before giving her the spot on the ticket? Empty bladder (I LIKE it!) types like this show themselves quickly, I should think. Sit down and try having an adult conversation on important any policy issue. They don’t last ten minutes before their shallownes rises up to swallow their brains, right before your eyes. Watch/read any interview with Trump about anything. The thread of conversation quickly disappears into the vastness of his ignorant ego.
YNNB – it was in the news when he flew to Alaska to talk to her, so yeah. Unless the “Failing” NYT was wrong. But where I lived, the papers were reporting (or editorializing, mainly) that he put her on the ticket to get bona fides with the religious right, who thought he was too wishy-washy on their issues. He is standard issue Republican – does nasty things to poor people, but because he is housebroken, he gets favorable press.
Ok here’s one bit of evidence against this “she was seen as” crap from Skeletor – a post I wrote about her on September 21, 2008 and the comments on it:
http://www.butterfliesandwheels.org/2008/a-mad-love-of-mediocrity/
Ironically or amusingly it starts from a piece by Sam Harris.
All of it – his piece, my post, the comments – is about what an empty bladder she is.
YNNB nails it — McCain’s failure to vet Palin sufficiently was pretty much disqualifying. I was sort of a McCain fan at the time (no doubt sucked in a bit by the media fawning, and I remembered his run against W in 2000), and skeptical of Obama’s readiness, but the Palin pick, along with his panicked reaction to the financial crisis (I’m cancelling a debate to go to Washington! No I’m not!), made it pretty clear which candidate wasn’t capable of leading.
Even the “Game Change” book and HBO special, which were fairly sympathetic to McCain, portrayed it as a comedy of errors — the campaign team thought that the VP vetting team did a “policy interview,” while the VP vetting team thought the campaign guys were going to do it, and somehow it didn’t get done and nobody thought to ask “hey, are we sure this person can talk about policy without sounding like a moron?”
While I’m at it – Skeletor @ 3 – yes, empty bladder. The word does not refer only to the bodily organ.