{"id":3668,"date":"2008-09-04T10:17:00","date_gmt":"2008-09-04T16:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/09\/small\/"},"modified":"2009-08-22T14:09:23","modified_gmt":"2009-08-22T20:09:23","slug":"small","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/09\/small\/","title":{"rendered":"Small."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Carter Bundy<\/span> <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I woke up Friday morning following Obama\u2019s<\/a> big, grand vision for America<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place> to hear some of the smallest, almost silliest news I\u2019d heard during the entire campaign: Sen. McCain<\/a> had chosen a running mate with less than two years of state-level experience and a stint as mayor of a town smaller than Grants.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Nothing wrong with being mayor of, say, Grants. Or Milan<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>. But it was stunning and borderline laughable (albeit scary) that Sen. McCain\u2019s much-vaunted experience led him to make a purely political and gimmicky pick for someone one heartbeat away from being the most powerful person on the planet.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

From her introductory speech to GOP press releases, it was clear they had simply chosen a woman — any woman — to try to peel off Hillary<\/a> voters, but had to find one acceptable to the extreme religious right. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

No experience, no how<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Frankly, there\u2019s no way — none — that even the most conservative Republican or staunchest McCain supporter can claim that the mayor of Wasilla is ready to lead the free world after less than two years of governing an entity smaller than Albuquerque<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

She has less than two years at the state level and none at the federal level. Sen. Obama had eight years at the state level, learning the ins and outs of policy and budgets as well as any governor, and will have four years at the federal level, including work on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. That\u2019s on top of being a Constitutional law scholar and spending years in serious study of major national issues.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Sarah Palin<\/a>? Hadn\u2019t even left the country until a few years ago. Neither have most Americans, but most Americans aren\u2019t about to be one 72-year-old\u2019s health problem away from commander-in-chief and leader of the free world.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Worse, recently she said she had no opinion on Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>. Really? Yikes. Mike Huckabee<\/a> quipped, \u201cIt\u2019s not what you know, it\u2019s what you\u2019ve done.\u201d Not only has she done little, but, sorry Mike, after the last eight years, some of us think it does matter what you know.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Sarah\u2019s lack of travel, experience, knowledge and intellectual curiosity make her more similar to W<\/a> than to McCain. And I think we know how well W\u2019s lack of experience, knowledge, travel and curiosity played out.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Plenty of options<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the weird thing, though: McCain could have chosen Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison<\/a>. Or Sen. Elizabeth Dole<\/a>. Or Condaleeza Rice<\/a>. Or Sen. Olympia Snowe<\/a>. Or Rep. Heather Wilson<\/a>, for that matter. Heck, Republican Albuquerque City Councilor Sally Mayer<\/a> would be more qualified with two years of state service.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

All are Republican women with decent experience and familiarity with the outside world, and women who would have made a play for Hillary supporters based at least on an appearance of moderation and experience. Instead, McCain went with a woman with a ferociously conservative record to appease his base, thinking that Hillary supporters are so shallow that they\u2019d go along.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Behind the curtain<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Even her allegedly good qualities collapse under the most modest vetting, which McCain clearly didn\u2019t do: She opposes the infamous \u201cBridge to Nowhere\u201d now, but as a candidate for governor just two years ago bragged of her full support of it.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

She opposes now-disgraced GOP Sen. Ted Stevens<\/a> and Alaska<\/st1:state>\u2019s one U.S.<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> representative, Don Young<\/a>, but as mayor of Wasilla hired their former staffers to lobby them for federal pork.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Which leads to the biggest whitewash of all: She\u2019s an anti-pork reformer. She worked with the aforementioned corrupt GOP delegation swipe to swipe $27 million of taxpayer money out of Washington<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> for a town of 6,900. That\u2019s almost $4,000 per person, and not one of the projects I\u2019ve seen has a federal benefit the way, say, labs or military bases do.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

She was the consummate insider ripping off taxpayers and paying some of the most corrupt politicians\u2019 staff in America<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> to help her. Not just once, but over and over throughout her career in Wasilla.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Identity politics gone awry<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

No, I wasn\u2019t likely to gush over any McCain choice, but what a slap in the face to the entire nation to choose someone not even in the top 1,000 or so most qualified Republicans, or top 100 most qualified Republican women, based on (according to their own press releases) a political calculation to snare disgruntled Hillary supporters.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not very different from the intellectual dishonesty of claiming Clarence Thomas<\/a> was the best-qualified person to replace African-American pioneer Thurgood Marshall<\/a> on the U.S. Supreme Court. There were 1,000 better-qualified Republicans, and at least 100 better-qualified African-American Republicans, but Thomas could also placate the extreme GOP religious fringes, so 41<\/a> had to put up the falsehood that Thomas was the most qualified.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The GOP has done the identity politics gimmick thing before with African Americans. It put up Alan Keyes<\/a> for Senate in Illinois<\/st1:state> and Michael Steele<\/a> in Maryland<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> with the idea that the GOP would fall in line and that sheer identity politics would be enough to steal major parts of the normally strong Dem African American base.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

What the GOP did then, as here, was grossly underestimate the intelligence and self-interest of voters in certain groups. It\u2019s probably fair to say that African Americans and women, as with any traditionally underrepresented group, do care about seeing one of their own win office. But only — and this is key — if that candidate comes close to reflecting their values.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Sarah couldn\u2019t be more opposed to the things many American women care about: equal pay for equal work, reproductive rights, civil rights for all, improving health care (the GOP plan? Get a better job), and improving education for all (not just for a handful by moving public-school money to religious schools).<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Country First?<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Either McCain has some sensational Hillary voter polling showing that a sizeable number of Hillary supporters are blind woman-only voters, or he has some scary (for him) polling showing he needed to put up a gimmicky Hail Mary to be competitive in swing states. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

My guess is it\u2019s the latter, but either way it was about politics and not about qualifications. Obama\u2019s too much a gentleman to say it, but I will: Choosing Sarah Palin is politics before country, pure and simple, regardless of where you are on the political spectrum. Every time you hear the phrase \u201cCountry First,\u201d think about who McCain chose to lead the free world — and why.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

McCain\u2019s first major choice would have looked small even without Obama\u2019s big presence last week. Next to Barack\u2019s careful vetting and qualified choice for veep, McCain\u2019s first major decision on the way to the White House looks even smaller.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Bundy is the political and legislative director for AFSCME<\/a> in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>. The opinions in his column are personal and do not necessarily reflect any official AFSCME position. You can learn more about him by clicking here<\/a>. Contact him at carterbundy@yahoo.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Carter Bundy I woke up Friday morning following Obama\u2019s big, grand vision for America to hear some of the smallest, almost silliest news I\u2019d heard during the entire campaign: Sen. McCain had chosen a running mate with less than two years of state-level experience and a stint as mayor of a town smaller than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bundy-columns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3668\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}