In what may go down as one of the biggest classic blunders since getting involved in a land war in Asia, John McCain has selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice-President. You can read the official statement here.

U.S. Senator John McCain today announced that he has selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate and to serve as his vice president.

Governor Palin is a tough executive who has demonstrated during her time in office that she is ready to be president. She has brought Republicans and Democrats together within her Administration and has a record of delivering on the change and reform that we need in Washington.

I cannot emphasize enough how bad a pick this is. As I wrote last week:

History teaches us that despite the levels of disrespect typically heaped on the office of vice president, the fact remains that many Vice Presidents have gone on to become President themselves, either through succession or through incapacity. Accordingly, the most important question to ask about any vice presidential nominee is not about whether he “balances the ticket” or “helps the campaign narrative.” The most important ask about a vice presidential nominee is simply this:

If something happens, would he make a good President?

Or, in this case, she. Let’s take a quick look at Alaska, shall we? Alaska is unique among all the 50 states in that it is uniquely socialist. Individuals in Alaska don’t pay state income or sales taxes–the state gets over 80% of its revenues from oil companies. Individuals in Alaska actually get money from the government every year. And if the state government needs more money, it doesn’t have to worry about backlash from their citizens by raising taxes or cutting spending–it just has to raise taxes on oil, which is a low-risk political move for it. Let’s not forget, either, that Alaska is also one of the biggest recipients of federal pork. Remember the “bridge to nowhere”? Alaska’s congressmen are notorious for bringing federal dollars into the state.

Being governor of Alaska is like being the governor of a fantasyland where wishing makes it so and you never have to make hard choices. Because of its luck in being a source of oil, it doesn’t have to balance tax revenues and economic growth. Because of its small population, its Senators are uniquely disproportionately powerful, as they are pretty constantly re-elected (although this election year may provide a turning point for that)–a power they use to bring in more pork and provide fewer worries to the state government on how to fund projects.

In other words, the governor of Alaska never has to make tough decisions, never has to balance economic growth and the functions of government. The total population being so low and spread out, crime isn’t a major worry. The disproportionately high levels of revenue compared to population means that the schools are well funded and the roads stay paved.

In short, being governor of Alaska does absolutely zero to prepare one for being president of the United States. In fact, it might actually be negative experience because it’s so different. So if we are to judge a VP by what kind of President they would make, Palin falls well short of the mark.

This is especially true when you consider that if McCain is elected President, he will be 73 years old upon taking office. Now, I think that McCain does have the mental capacity to be President. However, his age simply increases his risk of dying or being incapacitated in office. It is utter irresponsibility and lack of judgment on his part to choose Sarah Palin has his VP.

Update:

One good thing about Palin I did not know when I wrote this post is that she actually killed the “bridge to nowhere” project. So props for that. Of course, by that time she was already an established political enemy of Ted Stevens, so was that good governance or spite? Unfortunately, she doesn’t have a long enough record to judge which is which.

Filed Under: Domestic Politics, , , on 08-29-08