Northern Exposure

As I try to make sense of John McCain's decision to choose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, there is just no escaping the fact that it is a desperate act of pandering to women voters. I guess McCain just does not understand that, for political pandering to work, it cannot be too obvious. Otherwise, you run the risk of insulting the very people whose votes you are trying to get. McCain's choice of Palin veritably screams pandering. Women surely must be outraged.

Does John Sidney McCain III really believe that women voters, much less former supporters of Hillary Clinton, are going to be taken in by such a blatantly cynical move? Does he think women are that shallow?  Does McCain believe women are just not interested in the real political issues that affect their lives? Or maybe he's been listening to too much Rush Limbaugh...

Sarah Palin is a hard-right conservative whose political views are anathema to everything Senator Clinton stands for. Does the Arizona Senator seriously imagine that any significant number of Independent or Democratic women will vote for him just because he has a woman on the ticket? Talk about disrespect... !

Attempting to attract women voters by putting Sarah Palin on the ticket is a bit like choosing Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) for VP in hopes of getting the gay vote. 

Sad, Senator McCain, very sad...