John McCain has been known to brag that he “likes to gamble.”
Nobody would question that now, after his string of flashy maneuvers to maintain interest in his campaign as the country continues to sour on GOP rule. But Americans may be asking why they’d want a president who seems to thrive on risk at a time of enormous economic uncertainty. Now is the time for a steady hand, not a stunt man.
The other problem – at least for McCain’s campaign – is that bold gambles don’t always pan out. Perhaps McCain needs to throw caution to the wind if he’s to have any chance of winning in a year that always looked good for Democrats – but his bets to date aren’t looking too smart.
Most recently, McCain dramatically suspended his campaign to ride into Washington to save the country from economic disaster – only to ride out of town without obvious success.
He called for the SEC chairman’s head on a platter. He threatened to skip the presidential debate – which many saw as a transparent attempt to use a crisis for political benefit. It seemed even more erratic when he turned around and debated anyway, even though no deal had been reached.
He took credit for the bailout deal before it was final – and then it spectacularly failed. Nor did his “Country First” slogan seem very credible as he amplified the House GOP leader John Boehner’s line that several Republicans had voted against the rescue bill because Speaker Nancy Pelosi hurt their feelings with her speech before the vote.
More likely, they were putting their careers ahead of what was best for the country – as 95 gutless Democrats chose to do as well. But, instead of blasting House members with a little “straight talk,” Mr. Country First regurgitated the improbable and embarrassing House GOP talking points.
The ultimate gamble, of course, was McCain’s most consequential decision of his campaign: picking Sarah Palin as his running mate.
When she was added to the ticket, I called it a “high-risk, high-reward” strategy that could pay off if she didn’t fall on her face. Well, she’s falling on her face.
Yes, the media was and will continue to be mean to her. Yes, liberals were hypocrites for attacking her for being a working mother. And yes, it would be impossible for anyone to get up to speed on all the issues of the world in the time-frame she’s been given.
But the interviews she’s done so far have made it crystal clear that she’s not ready for this job. And because McCain is the one who hired her, he should have been able to see this, since he had an opportunity to question her. Maybe he saw it, and gambled anyway. If so, he’s even more irresponsible than many think.
Or perhaps he wrongly believed she was a fast learner or assumed she had a base of knowledge about world issues. Or maybe his staff just bungled the job of prepping her. Whatever the case, the Gambler rolled the dice and lost.
As it is, Palin has come off as having zero intellectual curiosity about anything outside Alaska, and as not having thought about many of the major issues of the day or even her lifetime. (Reportedly, in a soon-to-be-released clip, Palin couldn’t name a single Supreme Court case beyond Roe v. Wade in answer to Katie Couric.)
Why do McCain’s aides let her keep asserting that she understands foreign policy because Alaska is near Russia? Can’t they coach her to not rush to fill brief silences, or is she unable (like President Bush) to stop talking even when she knows not of what she speaks? (As the saying goes: Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt.)
Palin’s cringe-inducing moments don’t add up to a reassuring image. Of course, the same could be said for the entire McCain campaign.