The choice of Sarah Palin has changed the campaign, causing the McCain/Palin ticket to receive all the attention. Some question if Obama would have been better off with someone other than Joe Biden as running mate, or if he would have picked someone else if he had known of McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin. After careful consideration I see that they do have a point.
Looking back at Obama’s primary opponents, there is one opponent who could have led to a different outcome despite McCain picking Palin. I did not support that candidate in the primaries. Nor did I support that candidate in their endeavors to continue on with the campaign after Obama clinched the Democratic nomination. Now I must reconsider that candidate. The accomplishments of that candidate are discussed here. There is no doubt that things would have been different if, instead of choosing Joe Biden, Obama had picked Mike Gravel.
This choice would have kept the attention of the press as, just as with Sarah Palin, people would continue to be wondering who exactly is Mike Gravel. Every story which Sarah Palin tells of life in Alaska could be matched by Mike Gravel. Gravel would have kept Alaska’s electoral votes in play.
Despite being a supporter of decreased liberty and of the warfare state, Palin has ties with libertarians who back her. Gravel also has his own libertarian support, and even tried to win the Libertarian Party nomination this year before losing to Bob Barr, who won on the sixth ballot. Among Gravel’s accomplishments were his efforts to abolish the draft. Rather than trying to keep information from the public as Palin has been doing, Gravel was instrumental in the release of the Pentagon Papers.
Some suggest that other primary opponents of Obama might also be considered but most would be too much like Sarah Palin for supporting the Iraq war. Gravel has been an opponent from the start.
There is the question of whether we would really feel comfortable with Mike Gravel being a heartbeat away from being president, but with McCain choosing Sarah Palin it is clear we are to no longer think of that role for the vice president.
