In appraising Republican Presidential candidate Senator John McCain, public opinion in the United States often says he does not follow conventions in his card game. This time, he picked 44-year-old Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his Presidential running mate, a surprise choice that kicked up a din in media and whipped up a "hurricane" across the nation.
In fact, John McCain is circumspect and far-sighted in selecting young and pretty Sarah Palin as his running mate. There are four ensuing factors for his choice. First of all, in choosing Ms. Palin, McCain attaches importance to her female status and bids for Hillary Rodham Clinton's supporters as he aimed at Hillary's achievement with 18 million supporting votes of the Americans. Most of these supporters are women, who had pinned their hope on Hillary for their zeal and zest to partake in politics. Now that Hillary Clinton failed to win the primary, and Senator Barack Obama rejected her as his running mate, so these aged and relatively-old women are filled with much disappointment.
To McCain, however, these women voters who overwhelmingly preferred Hillary Clinton may well weight on the eventual victory or defeat in the Presidential race. Hence, he hoped to win them over to his side with the help of Palin because she is a woman. Palin is so bright and smart and knows pretty well what he means. "Let's shatter the glass ceiling that Hilaary cracked," said Sarah Palin when she accepted the nomination by McCain. "Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass." Her intention obviously to seek votes of American women coming through overtones.
Second, the charming and youthful look of Palin can not only offset the glamour of Senator Obama but also has a fresh, compassionate face of an outsider. Sarah Palin apparently has "charisma" in Alaska, whatever that means. In Alaska, Governor Palin challenged a corrupt system and passed a landmark ethic reform bill. Her overriding work style against corruptions and against interest groups can be utilized to backlash Senator Obama's "changes" that have been fashionable for a time.
Sarah Palin is praised widely for her record in Alaska, where she served as mayor and state governor and, during her tenure as Alaska Governor in particular, she cleaned the state government of corruption. At a function of nominating her as his running mate, McCain said "her experience in shaking up the status quo is exactly what is needed in Washington (D.C.) today," as it is helpful for him to manage Washington.
Third, Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, both are blue collar whites and former union members; they have five kids and support their family with hard work. Hence, McCain acknowledged, Palin knows clearly the vexation, hopes and values of workers and the toiling class, and this facilitates McCain seeking more votes from the people of the middle and lower middle classes from the Democrats.
Fourth, Sarah Palin, with her Christianity and particularly with her conservative outlook, can help John McCain regain trust and keep a resurgent conservative base among the Republicans, who have all along held a skeptical attitude towards his conservative position.
The effect on the selection of Governor Sarah Palin, nevertheless, has a dual nature. Palin, as a member of the anti-choice group Feminists for life, is opposed to abortion and hunting. Her anti-abortion and anti-hunting position would possibly let those women voters in favor of Hillary and Democratic Party flinch even further.
Moreover, McCain's another intention in choosing the 44-year-old Sarah Palin with less than two years of experience in state governorship, is to make up disadvantages with his age, and the result could be just the opposite of what he wishes -- making more people feel much more uneasy.
As McCain is advanced in age, who can rest assured if a new, fresh hand without adequate experience is able to take over in case of emergency, note some commentaries in the U.S. "Sarah Palin has some appealing qualities. But could she step in as president?" said the "Washing Post" in a sub-title of its editorial on Saturday, or August 30.
Palin has risen from Alaska, a small state of about 620,000 people with a little nationally-known prestige, noted U.S. media, and no one really knows her proposition in economy and her experience in international affairs. If Barack Obama has been criticized for the lack of diplomatic and defense expertise so he is cited as not eligible to the U.S. presidency and the position of the commander-in-chief, according to some experts on the U.S. presidential race, this agile, forceful sharp weapon John McCain had formerly employed can no longer be made useful to launch an offensive against his rival.
After all, "opinions differ from person to person", and the upshot for the selection of Sarah Palin is up to American voters themselves to make the final choice.
By People's Daily Online, and its author is chief PD resident reporter in U.S. Li Xuejiang
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