It’s been a couple of weeks since Sarah Palin was picked as John McCain’s running mate and I still don’t know what to make of it. I keep having this feeling that this is Harriet Miers all over again. If you don’t remember her, she was the White House Council with no bench experience that was nominated for the Supreme Court. The far-right wing and conservative christians (intentional little c) were ecstatic. So was the media, as she gave them plenty to write and blabber on about- her lack of credentials and her far-right stances on the usual christian wedge issues of abortion and gay marriage. After getting crucified by the media and inflaming Democrats against her, the nomination was withdrawn. But not before the religious right made President Bush their hero by nominating someone with no chance of getting approved.
And here we are, with a Vice Presidential candidate with little experience and far-right stances on the expected wedge issues. And now Sen. McCain is the hero of the religious right, the part of the Republican base everyone says he needs but can’t get. Even James Dobson is now backing that ticket, after earlier pledging to stay home. It doesn’t help that the move was telegraphed by Richard Land, or that her church is sponsoring a “pray away the gay” conference, or that she’s been quoted as saying in her church that the war in Iraq is “God’s mission” (quote at the end of this article)
Other than the above, what does she bring to the ticket? Can she stand toe-to-toe with Sen Joe Biden when debating foreign policy on national television? Can Sen McCain campaign against Sen Obama’s lack of experience with a straight face? And how can she stand against criticism that she should be playing a more active role in raising her children, especially her infant with Downs Syndrome? Or can her unmarried pregnant teen daughter withstand the media onslaught coming her way?
I can’t help but think the McCain campaign is pulling a fast one to invigorate the base, grab the headlines, and get the bump in the polls. I really wouldn’t be surprised to see her family life be used as an easy excuse to pull her name at the last minute so that McCain can do what he really wants, nominate a moderate. Which I would have been ok with had he done it to begin with. But I can’t help but think, as a Christian, that I’m being taken advantage of.
Romans 13 encourages us that all authorities in this world are established by God, but I have a feeling he’s rolling his eyes right now.