From a purely political point of view the choice of Sarah Palin has been fantastic because this greatly increases the chances of Obama being elected, but the selection was a bad thing for the country. From a pragmatic point of view John McCain’s running mate has a very real chance of winding up becoming president. Therefore I would prefer to see more moderate and competent Republican candidates so that the country would be better off regardless of who wins the election.
I’ve noted Palin’s far right views in several previous posts, including her opposition to abortion rights (even in cases of rape), her opposition to stem cell research, her support for teaching creationism in the schools, her opposition to sex education beyond abstinence-based teaching, and her denial of the scientific consensus on climate change. AP is running this story which does suggest that Palin has not pushed such a right wing agenda as governor of Alaska.
The story does provide a small amount of hope that things will not be as bad as I fear they would be under four more years of Republican rule. Unfortunately this is far from reassuring. There would be far more room for potential harm from Palin as president than as governor of Alaska. She would be picking Supreme Court justices who could wind up ruling on topics such as abortion rights and separation of church and state. She would be in a position to extend George Bush’s ban on federal funding for stem cell research. She would be setting national policy with regards to climate change.
Palin’s extremist views might not have mattered as much while governor of Alaska, but they would likely create serious problems should she become president. The election of McCain/Palin is simply far too risky for this country to take a chance on.
