Back Towards The Locus

With the selection of Sarah Palin, it becomes clear that John McCain is pursuing his maverick image. From that, he can project himself as a figure of principled change among the Republican Party; attempting to attract both disaffected Hilary supporters and those jaded by the Bush Administration.

The selection was canny, if horribly cynical, in its identification of symbolism, but there are still multifarious opportunities to exploit his many errors of judgement, areas of ignorance and occasional outright absurdity. There’s also a lot to sift through regarding Palin.

Maverick? Rly?

• In 2003, McCain declared that he would have done “nothing” differently in the run-up to the war. This year, even the Senate Intelligence Committee has said that the rhetoric of the Administration was “fundamentally misleading and led the nation to war on false premises“. McCain himself contributed to this in linking the anthrax attacks to Iraq just a month after 9/11. Sound judgement, as ever (goodness, I fear for that poor girl if McCain is elected).

• He now claims, wrongly, that Iraq is a “peaceful and stable country“, despite the difficulties in the “surge” that he is proud to have supported. Even his knowledge regarding the beginning of this initiative is deficient.

• McCain has regularly voiced his opposition to the US’s practice of torture, but has nevertheless supported legislation that a) helped to establish it and b) blocked attempts to prohibit it. That doesn’t mean that his vocal opposition is necessarily cynical, but it does mean that he has prioritised party loyalty over individual principles.

Change? Rly?

Despite the perception that the selection of Palin proves McCain to be a ‘maverick’, the records of his other advisers suggest differently. Kagan, Kristol and Scheunemann have all advised him on foreign policy, and all are signatories of – or, in the case of the former pair, the co-founders of – PNAC, which shaped the Bush Doctrine. Even Henry Kissinger has chipped in. These are discredited figures.

Palin has no foreign policy experience, and so the views of these advisers will be highly significant in moulding the lamentable positions of the Republican candidate. At least with regards to international affairs, four years of McCain seem likely to be four years of the same, and Biden should be able to exploit this at the Veep debate with Palin.

Palin, Rly?

A few questions have been surfacing that Biden will probably be keen to pose to Palin:

• Is Ms Palin still “pleased” with Obama’s energy plan?

• Having only met John McCain once prior to this week, does Ms Palin feel that their relationship is sufficiently developed?

• Does Ms Palin feel that her foreign policy experience is sufficiently substantial?

• What insight does she bring to McCain’s campaign?

• Since June, has she been made aware of the responsibilities of a VP?

Updates incorporated into text