The email sent will contain a link to this article, the article title, and an article excerpt (if available). For security reasons, your IP address will also be included in the sent email.
COLUMN: “The woman from nowhere: John McCain’s choice of running-mate raises serious questions about his judgment,” by Lexington, The Economist, 6 September 2008.
Solid stuff:
Mr McCain has based his campaign on the idea that this is a dangerous world—and that Barack Obama is too inexperienced to deal with it. He has also acknowledged that his advanced age—he celebrated his 72nd birthday on August 29th—makes his choice of vice-president unusually important. Now he has chosen as his running mate, on the basis of the most cursory vetting, a first-term governor of Alaska.
Lexington later describes Palin as “inexperienced and Bush-level incurious,” with “no record of interest in foreign policy, let alone expertise.”
Ridge and Lieberman were ruled out over abortion, meaning “the Palin appointment is yet more proof of the way that abortion still distorts American politics.”
Bottom line: “Mrs Palin’s elevation suggests that, far from breaking with Mr Bush, Mr McCain is repeating his mistakes.”
Return to Article
