I was watching the GOP Convention last night, waiting for the grand oration from Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (the \u201chand grenade in the cultural war\u201d). A little after 9 PM, I noticed a mousy-looking woman in her mid-fifties take the stand and present a mediocre speech. She wasn\u2019t too bad or too good at it; definitely partisan, but hardly inflammatory. This woman turned out to be the Republican Governor of Hawaii, Linda Lingle. The commentator noted that Lingle was in her second term as governor, and had previously served as the mayor of a small town in Hawaii. <\/p>\n
So, I wondered \u2013 how come Lingle wasn\u2019t picked by McCain for the VP job? (Or even considered!) She\u2019s had more time on the job than Palin, and has maintained a good track record out there in Barack Obama\u2019s home state (i.e., low unemployment rate, budget surplus, high popularity rate). She\u2019s also more cosmopolitan: Lingle grew up in St. Louis, went to high school and college in California, then moved to Hawaii. Her views on abortion are moderate \u2013 generally pro-choice, but against partial birth abortion and favoring notification restrictions. She\u2019s also currently unmarried, twice divorced, without children, Jewish, and consults with a rabbi once a week. In effect, she is \u201cLiberman light\u201d. But she\u2019s also a bona fide Republican. McCain would have had to twist a lot of arms had he selected Lingle; he would have made the Christian Right unhappy. And Lingle isn\u2019t all that glitzy or telegenic. But McCain would have attracted a lot of moderates and independents, would have had a better shot with former Hilary supporters. He also may have avoided this damn red state vs. blue state firestorm that Sarah Palin has set off. <\/p>\n
Instead, unfortunately, McCain decided to both play it safe (with the GOP conservatives) and at the same time play it cocky (picking someone with lots of political and personal baggage and limited leadership experience). And now, any hope or pretense that this election would \u201cbring us together\u201d and \u201cheal the wounds\u201d of an increasingly bi-cultured America has gone by the wayside. Welcome to Civil War II, thanks to a political bomb dropped by a gutsy attack-plane pilot.<\/p>\n
I will note one interesting thing about Sarah Palin \u2013 she always wears glasses. In an era when most of the beautiful people wear contacts, this seems rather quaint. Perhaps it is isn\u2019t such an issue amidst the glitteratzi up in Alaska. And some speculate that she\u2019s trying to emulate Tina Fey. Certain of Palin\u2019s \u201cfashion eyewear\u201d selections are a bit gauche. But as someone who has worn glasses since age 11 and who has never owned a pair of contacts, I do appreciate the fact that a major political party is finally running a presidential ticket that includes a fellow \u201cfour-eyes-er\u201d. (However, Lingle also wears glasses!)<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s another interesting sidenote to the Palin saga, specifically regarding the \u201cTroopergate\u201d investigation into her firing of Alaska\u2019s public safety director Walt Monegan. Recall that the question here is whether Palin abused her discretion by pressuring and then canning Monegan in retaliation for his not firing a state trooper involved in an unhappy marriage and messy divorce with Palin\u2019s sister. One of the allegations of misconduct brought against the trooper was that he illegally shot and killed a moose (no permit, out of season, whatever). To we East Coast people, that doesn\u2019t sound like anything worse than putting a glass bottle into the plastics recycling bin. I mean, Alaska is mostly wilderness, not like our over-crowded cities and suburbs. So what\u2019s the big deal about shooting a moose out in the boondocks? There must be plenty of them.<\/p>\n