A Response to Mary Mitchell of the Chicago Sun-Times
Ever since Senator John McCain (R-AZ) the GOP presidential nominee announced his surprise selection of Governor Sara Palin of Alaska as his Vice President Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell has been hammering away at Palin. This commentary is an attempt to respond to Mitchell and her charges.
In her first column ” The Gender Game” Mitchell mentioned the historic nature of Gov. Palin’s selection as Senator McCain’s running mate and even called her a reformer. She also thought that Palin was a fighter, but then the rest of the column set a negative tone. She bemoaned that the “Choice feels sleazy.” She then diminishes the choice by claiming that it is not Palin’s brains that McCain is after, but her gender because of Hillary voters. She called the selection a desperate and sleazy game for which women would not fall.
If Sen. McCain’s selection of Palin were just about capturing the Hillary voters by choosing a women there are others he could have chosen like Rep. Heather Wilson (NM) or Gov. Jodi Rell of Connecticut. These two women are also very intelligent and capable of leading the country. Some thought he might chose fellow Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (TX), however, rather than going with the two known individuals or the eastern Republican he chose the Gov. of Alaska. Granted Hutchison and Wilson are insiders and he was looking for an outsider. That would leave Palin or Rell and he chose Palin because according to McCain Palin campaign manager Rick Davis “He saw alot of himself in her ( Newsweek, 30 Aug 08)”. There is nothing sleazy or cynical here. This was a choice based on his instinct of who he would be able to work with the best.
