"As though she couldn't possibly have been picked for her merits."
I hadn't paid the slightest attention to who McCain might be looking at for a VP, and didn't have any clue who might be on the list, but when Obama selected Biden instead of Hillary, I was certain McCain would select a female VP.
It's entirely possible Palin is also the best candidate if you discount gender, but a multitude of statements from Clinton supporters earlier this year already made it obvious that discounting the gender issue would be premature. People aren't over that yet. They're fighting for justice, and it will be worth switching parties for some of them. There are people for whom the gender mix on the ticket is the most important issue, and it was obvious he wouldn't pass that up. Simple game theory, politics is ugly, and they go for the biggest bloc of votes wherever they think you can score them.
If we figure a roughly 50/50 split between Democrats and Republicans, and close enough to a 50/50 split between Obama and Clinton supporters, we have 25% of voters being disappointed Clinton supporters who have spent a year looking forward to having a female president. For some of them, that single issue has been the most important factor. McCain will gain votes based on this choice, the only question is how many. No other VP choice was likely to have this sort of impact.
We've already established that we're talking about established politicians and power-brokers. It's fanciful to think they might have overlooked this and selected someone based on non-gender merits alone.
no subject
I hadn't paid the slightest attention to who McCain might be looking at for a VP, and didn't have any clue who might be on the list, but when Obama selected Biden instead of Hillary, I was certain McCain would select a female VP.
It's entirely possible Palin is also the best candidate if you discount gender, but a multitude of statements from Clinton supporters earlier this year already made it obvious that discounting the gender issue would be premature. People aren't over that yet. They're fighting for justice, and it will be worth switching parties for some of them. There are people for whom the gender mix on the ticket is the most important issue, and it was obvious he wouldn't pass that up. Simple game theory, politics is ugly, and they go for the biggest bloc of votes wherever they think you can score them.
If we figure a roughly 50/50 split between Democrats and Republicans, and close enough to a 50/50 split between Obama and Clinton supporters, we have 25% of voters being disappointed Clinton supporters who have spent a year looking forward to having a female president. For some of them, that single issue has been the most important factor. McCain will gain votes based on this choice, the only question is how many. No other VP choice was likely to have this sort of impact.
We've already established that we're talking about established politicians and power-brokers. It's fanciful to think they might have overlooked this and selected someone based on non-gender merits alone.