Deborah Leavy: McCain's choice

SARAH Palin's record has understandably been subjected to some scrutiny since John McCain introduced her to the nation as his running mate.

As mayor of the tiny town of Wasilla, Alaska, it's said she tried to ban books from the public library, hired a Washington lobbyist to secure the same earmarks she now claims to oppose and drove the town deep into debt. As governor, she raised taxes, and . . . well, I'm sure there's more to come.

But I suppose Palin can take comfort in one thing. No matter how personally embarrassing or politically threatening the news may be, it reveals far more about McCain than about her. Since it's McCain who tops the ticket, we need to pay attention to what his choice for veep can tell us.

First, McCain has made plain his decision-making style: impetuous. McCain made his choice without knowing much about her. He didn't have enough information to be fully informed. He didn't even wait for a routine FBI check.

For all of you who believe that's the kind of guy to have his finger on the button - you're scaring me. Are you thinking that, since we've already gone to war with false information, maybe we should see how it goes with just a little bit of information?

McCain's choice also tells us a lot about his judgment. Let's compare how the two candidates, McCain and Barack Obama, faced their first presidential-level decision. McCain, who boasts that he always puts country first, proved that he doesn't. Instead of focusing on competence, he decided that the woman with the best life story should be a heartbeat from the presidency.

Remember the TV show "Queen for a Day"? The contestant who told the saddest sob story got an Amana refrigerator-freezer. McCain believes Sarah Palin should get the vice presidency.

I think you'd have a hard time convincing Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Elizabeth Dole and other accomplished Republican women that Palin is the most qualified to be ready to lead the nation and perform on the world stage, should the need arise.

In contrast, Obama, whose patriotism has been unfairly questioned by some, is the candidate who with his choice has proven to be the one who truly puts country first. His No. 1 criterion for a running mate was someone who could take over the presidency on a moment's notice.

Obama hit it out of the park with Joe Biden. McCain fouled out over the right field line with Palin.

McCain chose Palin for two main reasons. The first was to solidify his party's right-wing base, less than enthusiastic about his candidacy. Palin's position on God, guns and gays, plus her views on reproductive choice, are more extreme than McCain's and squarely in line with the most conservative Republicans. They really whooped it up for her.

The second main reason is in conflict with the first. It's clear McCain wanted a woman on the ticket to lure some of the 18 million voters who supported Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. He thought he could put in an arch-conservative woman to win over his base and still trick the Clinton supporters into voting for him.

I'm sure there are people so turned on by the thought of a female president that they didn't care what else Clinton stands for. Maybe some of them will vote for McCain/Palin.

But for those who supported Clinton because she's a woman and a feminist whose ideals they share, McCain's choice of Palin is nothing short of an insult, a cynical ploy that patronizes them as too dumb to tell the difference between one woman and another.

Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin have not much more than one thing in common, and it's biological, not political.

THE IDEA that Clinton's candidacy might've blazed a path for a woman who doesn't trust women to make their own decisions about childbearing is making Clintonites shudder. Although some still talk about voting for McCain, the most recent polls show that more are flocking to Obama since Palin was added to the GOP ticket.

Conventional wisdom has it that whoever is selected for vice president doesn't matter much to voters. But how and why McCain made his decision has provided a reality check on what his presidency might look like - and it isn't pretty.

Risky and uninformed decisions, putting political needs before the nation's, catering to the right wing and thinking people are too stupid to figure it out - that's not change. It's simply more of the same that we've suffered through for eight years.

And the cherry on top? The possibility of President Palin.

Perish the thought. *

Deborah Leavy is a regular contributor to the op-ed page. E-mail her at deborah.opinion@gmail.com.