Palin Pick A Potentially Serious Political Problem, From Reporters Across The Ideological Spectrum

"Think about what the Palin pick really says about how McCain views this campaign and how he views his potential responsibilities in national security. Think about what it says about the sincerity of McCain's own central criticism of Obama these past two months in foreign affairs. Think about how he picked a woman to be a heartbeat away from a war presidency who hadn't even thought much, by her own admission, about the Iraq war as late as 2007. Think about how he made this decision barely knowing the woman...Think about how the key factor in this decision was not who could defend this country were something dreadful happen to McCain in office but how to tread as much on Obama's convention bounce and use women's equality as a wedge issue among Democrats because it might secure a few points here or there. Oh, and everyone would be surprised...This is his sense of honor and judgment. This is his sense of responsibility and service. Here's the real slogan the McCain campaign should now adopt: Putting. Country. Last."

---Andrew Sullivan, The Atlantic

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"...Maybe it will work. But maybe (and at least as likely) it will reinforce a theme that I'd be pounding home if I were the Obama campaign: that it's John McCain for all his white hair who represents the risky choice, while it is Barack Obama who offers cautious, steady, predictable governance. Here's I fear the worst harm that may be done by this selection. The McCain campaign's slogan is "country first." It's a good slogan, and it aptly describes John McCain, one of the most self-sacrificing, gallant, and honorable men ever to seek the presidency. But question: If it were your decision, and you were putting your country first, would you put an untested small-town mayor a heartbeat away from the presidency?"

---David Frum, National Review

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"...Palin's odds of emerging unscathed this fall are slim. In fact, she's been all but set up for failure. 'What is it exactly that the vice president does all day?' Palin offhandedly asked CNBC anchor Larry Kudlow in July. Kudlow explained that the job has become more important in recent years. Palin knows the energy crisis well, even if her claim on 'Charlie Rose' that Alaska's untapped resources can significantly ease it is unsupported by the facts. But what does she know about Iranian nukes, health care or the future of entitlement programs? And that's just a few of the 20 or so national issues on which she will be expected to show basic competence. The McCain camp will have to either let her wing it based on a few briefing memos (highly risky) or prevent her from taking questions from reporters (a confession that she's unprepared). Either way, she's going to belly-flop at a time when McCain can least afford it.

---Jonathan Alter, Newsweek

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[See also Rameseh Pannuru's of National Review; Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic reporting about Republican strategists' reactions.]

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