Petty Politics: McCain/Palin -- GOP's Last Gasp or Political Stalking Horse?

From the Mercury News:¹

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David Springer, an Intel program manager and a San Jose team leader for the McCain campaign, focused on Palin's credentials as a natural leader and a passionate reformer as Alaska's governor. He plays down the suggestion that McCain is using Palin to skim Clinton votes away from Obama.

"I suspect there's a part of that in there, but the choice for vice president is a lot more important than just picking a characteristic that'll swing a few voters," he said. "John is picking her as a natural successor. I don't think gender matters one way or another in how he made his choice."

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Perhaps Mr. Springer missed the recent attempt by Karl Rove to pre-marginalize Obama's Vice Presidential pick for a running mate. Mr. Rove tried to set the stage and dialogue for the Obama choice by using Governor Tim Kaine as an example, stating that he felt Obama would make a political choice and not a choice based on what would make a good Vice President or a potential President in the event the Veep was called upon to fill a vacancy. Unfortunately for the McCain campaign, for Ms. Palin, for Mr. Springer and for Karl Rove, the video of that criticism is available online -- and applies perfectly to McCain's selection of Palin. From CBS's "Face the Nation" on August 10, 2008, Rove: Obama Will Make Political Veep Pick:

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"I think he's going to make an intensely political choice, not a governing choice," Rove said. "He's going to view this through the prism of a candidate, not through the prism of president; that is to say, he's going to pick somebody that he thinks will on the margin help him in a state like Indiana or Missouri or Virginia. He's not going to be thinking big and broad about the responsibilities of president." ...[...snip...]... "With all due respect again to Governor Kaine, he's been a governor for three years, he's been able but undistinguished," Rove said. "I don't think people could really name a big, important thing that he's done. He was mayor of the 105th largest city in America."

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Oddly enough, all of the above applies equally -- perhaps even more accurately -- to the selection of Sarah Palin by the McCain Campaign...a campaign that is using Karl Rove's strategies and Rovian strategists.

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Rove continued: "So if he were to pick Governor Kaine, it would be an intensely political choice where he said, 'You know what? I'm really not, first and foremost, concerned with, is this person capable of being president of the United States? What I'm concerned about is, can he bring me the electoral votes of the state of Virginia, the 13 electoral votes in Virginia?'"

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Governor Kaine's response¹ to Rove's criticism also further defines and delineates a few real potential pitfalls in the selection of Palin, which increasingly begs the question "Why her?" Indeed, many Republican women feel that the choice of Palin tokenizes her in a blatant effort to sweep up any disenchanted Hillary supporters and influence female voters merely on the basis of gender.¹

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Still, even some Republican women in Silicon Valley are re-evaluating their candidate in light of his decision.

"I'm kind of shocked," said Barbara Koberlein, a retired architectural designer who lives in San Jose's Rose Garden neighborhood. "I think it was a stab to try and save the ticket by trying to get Hillary's supporters to join McCain. But it feels kind of like he's forcing them to make a commitment because she's a woman.

"I just don't think that it's as strong a choice as it could have been," she said. "I'd have gone with a stronger male ticket than trying to just find a woman, any woman, to fill the slot. I was on the edge with McCain myself. This almost pushes me to the other side."

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Check out the video of Mr. Rove's appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation" a few weeks ago -- scroll forward to the 5:43 point, which immediately precedes the Rove statements quoted earlier in this piece:
^{Start the video at the 5:43 mark.} It is immediately and intensely apparent after watching Mr. Rove's words that the process behind the selection of Palin has been, in fact, purely political and without any intent to select a Veep with proven ability of capable and qualified governance -- and that the process of such political maneuvering was not new to Mr. Rove's mind at the time this was recorded. So, is this the best that the GOP can field -- have they nothing and no-one of substance to field at this point, after ravaging the nation, the economy, the military, the Constitution, the court system and the rule of law? Or could this be one last, final Rovian ploy in an attempt to achieve some type of political masterstroke in the run-up to the November elections? Will John McCain actually emerge as the GOP's nominee, and will Sarah Palin remain by his side as the GOP's VP nominee, or will one or both candidates be replaced -- McCain possibly due a health-related claim, and Palin "out of the interest in the greater good of her party" or for family reasons (not at all tied to the current ongoing investigation that involves her)? The replacement of one or both candidates and the emergence of a surprise team in the final dash toward the November elections would impact Democratic rival Barack Obama's strategy, possibly eating away at their financial war chest to retool ads and create new campaign material adjusted for a new team, but would that be enough to guarantee a decisive gain for the GOP in the election? Even combining the known knowns and known unknowns of GOP dirty tricks like voter caging, redistricting ploys and possible vote manipulation, the GOP faces a nation that has grown weary of the politics of deceit, fear and smear -- and, even more crucially, a nation that has seen what 8 years of nearly complete Republican control and 'governance' has accomplished: devastation, across the board, and a growing and nearly overwhelming desire for change at all levels of government. Maybe this is the GOP's last desperate gasp to find a political solution, or maybe it's final setup of political machinations which, if unsuccessful, will lead them to explore other means to distract the public from the massive degree of damage that 8 years of Republican dominance across the three branches of government have inflicted. In the meantime, here's a classic Tom Petty song to help folks cogitate. Good morning, and enjoy. ___________________________ Footnotes ___________________________

1. Sources: The Raw Story, "Video: Rove expects Obama to pick VP for politics, not readiness", CNN Political Ticker, "Kaine fires back at Rove", CBS' "Face the Nation" -- "Rove: Obama Will Make Political Veep Pick", Mercury News "McCain's pick puzzles many in valley". Hat-tip to unwilledatom for an initial glimpse of the Rove transcript via the dKos diary.
2. Governor Kaine's retort to Rove's criticism:

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   The Democratic governor — who is rumored to be on Barack Obama's potential VP list — pointed out that his state was voted best for business three years in a row by Forbes.com and said "maybe Karl Roves and the Republicans don't care about business climate, that would explain why we're in the situation that we're in".

   "Governing Magazine was also named Virginia as the top governed state in America," Kaine told reporters, "maybe to Karl Rove that isn't an achievement that would explain a federal government that couldn't respond to a hurricane a Katrina and couldn't figure out how to start and manage a war."

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   Ouch.
3. Stalking horse:
   a candidate put forward to divide the opposition or to mask the true candidate

   Hat-tip Peskyang in Pulling to the Left.