Any student of business will tell you that selecting the right "talent" is the most critical and important job of any executive. Jack Welch and Bossidy, two titans of business, will tell you they would spend between 1/3 to 1/2 of their time personally interviewing, reviewing and selecting talent. They would coach mentor and be personally involved in what talent is put where in the business. As they rightfully know, they cannot be everywhere so it is talent that matters. John McCain met his new V.P. once and talked to her, only on the phone, once about being V.P. before he made his choice.
Regardless of whether Palin was a good choice or not, this really gives us insight into the McCain White House. First, it tells us someone else is calling the shots.
This clearly was not a John McCain decision but rather a detailed recommendation from some consultant / handler who told him how this would "look". He then did a quick vetting personally to make sure she was not a visible axe murderer and from that he told the consultants to execute. If not this then are we saying he can chose the second in command of the United States by meeting a person once? That would be irresponsible and reckless. I suppose it could be that which would remind us of the decision making process that got us into Iraq.
So, who made this decision? Wall writings correctly points out that this is a "Karl Rovesque" pick.(See Article on Rove in the Background). It is a pick which will allow the "handlers" of John McCain to start his "headless smear campaign" against Obama. McCain was buried in South Carolina in 2000 by the headless smear campaign of Karl Rove when Bush authorized a telephone survey asking voters, "Would your opinion of McCain change if you knew he fathered an illegitimate black child"? McCain was rightfully appalled at this tactic (Notice they never said he did, they just asked "if". But, as Karl Rove knew, most voters would take this to mean he did and McCain never recovered). Selecting Palin is related in a few ways:
- It ensures the V.P. debates will be light-weight. We do not want Biden to be seen as "picking" on Palin and her lack of knowledge or understanding.
- It will allow Rove and his cronies to attack Biden in detail while allowing for no response since their really is nothing to respond to. They have picked, quite frankly, a nobody. Rather than find someone with a record of action by which they would take a chance that something is buried in there, they actually took the opposite approach. Find someone who has done absolutely the least possible and then just make up what she "might" do. It appears, if they could have got away with it, they would have found a soccer mom in the middle of Nebraska who does nothing but cook, clean, take her kids around and be a loving wife (which all, by the way,is very admirable just not qualifications for the Presidency). This would have been the perfect choice but even Rove and the gang know they could not have got away with that.
- It will allow Rove to basically say to American, "Look, we nominated a Mom just like you for V.P., how can you vote against this? Mind you, there will be no ads which say this but this will be part of the "headless campaign.
The McCain campaign, run by Rove consultants have finally "
jumped the shark". There is no pretense anymore of who actually is running the Country if the Republicans get in. We always suspected in the Bush White House that Rove and Cheney were running it and now, with McCain, they truly are just coming out and telling America there will be a "behind the scenes" shadow White House. McCain is like
"Bernie" in Weekend at Bernie's to them. Because none of the Rove consultants could get elected they are just moving McCain around and putting him up but McCain will not be the one in control.
And this decision proved it.
While the story they are telling is this is a true "McCain style - Maverick decision" the truth is McCain had little to do with it. Met her once, then a quick phone call, then the job offer. Nope, not a McCain decision but rather a Rove decision. We shall see how it plays out.
Update: It will be interesting to know / see how Rove Spins the fact that he said another Governor was not qualified because being a "governor" does not qualify you.