McCain's VP pick: hit and miss

By: Kevin Eggleston

Posted: 9/8/08

Sen. John McCain's vice president pick seems like a bit of a shock and awe campaign: A relatively unknown governor from Alaska whose past policies and stances are now in the forefront of the Republican campaign. When it comes to conservative, hockey-mom Gov. Sarah Palin, she's certainly been eliciting some unusual headlines.

"WOW! She hunts! She fishes!" declared the New York Post in response to McCain's surprise selection, eliciting cringe-worthy thoughts of the current gun-totin' vice president. What the Post didn't headline is that maverick Palin likes to hunt public servants just as much as moose and trout.

Gov. Palin, who won the titles of "Miss Congeniality" and "Miss Wasilla" in 1984, wasn't so congenial to a city librarian she tried to fire a few months after she refused then-Mayor Palin's request to censor controversial books. According to CBS news, the Governor wasn't so kind to Alaska State Trooper Mike Wooten, who she allegedly tried to fire while he was in the middle of a divorce with Palin's sister. In Alaska, they're calling the ongoing investigation Troopergate. I call it bad domestic policy.

If Palin ever makes it to Washington, D.C., these micro-scandals will likely melt away as fast as Alaskan snow. What will remain: Palin's shockingly extremist stances on social issues.

According to OntheIssues.org, Palin opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest, opposes stem cell research, supports a constitutional ban on gay marriage, supports teaching creationism alongside evolution in schools, opposes the theory that global warming is man-made and opposes explicit sex-education programs in public schools.

Megan Sunzeri, a junior, art history and television, radio and film major, can't help but notice the irony.

"First Mary Cheney contradicts her father's administration's stance on gay issues and now Bristol Palin makes a mockery of her mother's stance on sex ed," she said.

OntheIssues.org has not yet found any "issue stance" on foreign policy for Gov. Palin, who would be one breath away from the office occupied by a septuagenarian with a history of skin cancer during a time of war and international crisis.

When Charlie Gibson of ABC News brought up Palin's foreign policy naivete; in this age of an "insurgent Russia," John McCain replied, "Alaska is right next to Russia. She understands that."

Here on campus, College Republicans are smitten with the pit-bull with lipstick - as Palin jokingly referred to herself in St. Paul. Alexander Panas, a freshman in The College of Arts and Sciences, believes that McCain made a wise decision by choosing Palin.

"She's a strong woman who has strong morals and has demonstrated herself to be a strong leader," Panas said.

Kevin Young, a sophomore in The College of Arts and Sciences, called Palin a "ballsy pick" who has "mobilized the conservative base."

"Palin is about as far right as they come," he said.

Young's observation brings up the issue of McCain's ability to reach across the aisle and be the "uniter" that President Bush failed to embody. McCain has selected an inexperienced social extremist re-labeled as a like-minded reformer. It is a pick that will reignite the "culture wars" of George Bush and Pat Buchanan instead of initiating the reunification process promised by Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Palin's selection may have been a shock, but she makes the choice on Election Day quite clear. McCain now represents four more years of partisanship, social warfare and division. Obama still represents unity and change. And once this current media over-dose of Palin and McCain wear off, Americans will realize what's going on and cast sober votes for Obama.

Kevin Eggleston is a junior political science and television, radio and film major. His column appears every other Monday. He can be reached at kmeggles@syr.edu.