Surprised there hasn't been a thread on these statements on Palin by Cheney. http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/cheney-palin-wasnt-ready/ Cheney: Palin Wasn’t Ready Dick Cheney knows a thing or two about selecting Vice Presidential nominees. He led Gerald Ford’s search in 1976 and came up with Bob Dole. He led George W. Bush’s search in 2000 and came up with himself. So I was interested to hear his take on Sarah Palin during an interview with ABC News’ Jonathan Hart (Mr. Cheney’s first interview since he had a heart transplant in March). He did not disappoint, freely trashing John McCain’s selection. Mr. Cheney said campaigns keep two lists of VP candidates – a long list (one that exists primarily so politicians can leak their presence on it for media attention), and a shorter, serious list including people who could actually serve as president if necessary. Apparently he would have put Ms. Palin on the first. “I like Gov. Palin. I’ve met her. I know her,” Mr. Cheney said. “But based on her background, she had only been governor for, what, two years? I don’t think she passed that test of being ready to take over. And I think that was a mistake.” Mr. McCain took the bait. “I’m always glad to get comments four years later,” Mr. McCain said on Fox & Friends this morning. “Look, I respect the vice president. He and I had strong disagreements as to whether we should torture people or not. I don’t think we should have.” Since this is Olympics time, I give Mr. McCain a score of 8.5 for the nicely venomous torture mention. I subtracted 1.5 because Mr. McCain chose Ms. Palin in the first place.
Palin was not ready. Sadly, neither was Obama. Unfortunately, the latter has had a much bigger negative impact on America.
Lulz. I voted McCain but I dislike Palin. Didn't matter who he selected though, he was never going to win.
I would have voted for McCain if he hadn't selected Palin. Her presence on the ticket was enough for me to switch to Obama. The thought she could be one heartbeat away from the presidency with an old guy like McCain leading the way scared the daylights out of me. She wasn't ready, isn't ready and never will be ready. The dimwitted dingbat knows it herself. The burns she suffered during 3 months of humiliation in 2008 still haven't healed. The people who thought for one minute she was seriously considering a 2012 run were played like fools last year. It was a complete sham that extended her time of "relevence" for a few more months. All Sarah Palin cares about is raking in the cash from the deluded zealots who still believe in her.
^^ sad thing is many people in my family are strong supporters of her. Scary how great they think she is. My brother in law and mother see her as such a strong great person. Personally I'm not convinced she knows how to read.
Palin should never have been elected governor of Alaska, much less selected by McCain for his VP on the ticket. I respected McCain before he ran in 2008. His campaign made a mockery of what he stood for during so many years of public service. That he picked Palin made him appear unbalanced. I will never understand that pick for VP, or his despicable campaign, if I live to be a hundred. Thank god, they lost and the country won.
I believe he chose her out of desperation, which basically proved him unworthy of my vote. For me, it was McCain's first "presidential" act and it blew up in his face. I'm in the minority that believe McCain would have won in 2008 if he made a legit VP choice. At the time, he may have felt the election slipping away and Palin was his hail Mary pass.
McCain really had no chance to win based on two factors: 1) The media's 9-1 bias in favor of Obama -- daily attacks on McCain and daily praising of Obama by CBS, NBC, ABC, and most print media were tough to fight off 2) When the stock market crashed, it was over for the incumbent party. Any democrat would have won in 2008. Agree that Palin was more of a 'game changer' choice -- a choice intended to excite the base and bring in women voters. It did that to a degree, but like I said, it was over based on 1 and 2 above. Romney won't go with a game changer -- the memories of Palin are too fresh. I fully expect McDonnell or Portman. Both are exceptionally qualified VP picks.
It was NOT over. Obama was (is) actually a weak candidate, which was proven by his relatively small 7% margin in 2008 despite the favorable conditions. If McCain's campaign hadn't been destroyed by Palin, he would have closed hard and won at the end. IMO. But with the dimwit weighing him down like an anchor, there was no way for him to gain closing momentum. You can throw #1 in the garbage because it can always be argued the media favors the Dem candidate but Republicans still usually win. For #2, you have a point but a strong Dem candidate would have pulverized McCain/Palin by double-digits. McCain also royally messed up when he acted like he earned the presidency because of his military and P.O.W. past vs. the whipper-snapper Obama ("that one"). This was a major turn-off for me but maybe it's all the bullets he had left to shoot. Instead, he should have focused more on issues and then heavily emphasized his military/patriotic background as a finishing touch the last 2 weeks. It was a blown opportunity. But from my post-election standpoint, his selection of Palin and his campaign in general proved him unworthy of the office.
