Desperate Much? (Updated)


I'll blog on the Democratic Convention and Obama's fantastic speech later today. I'm too distracted now by McCain's choice for Vice-President.

Until the info pours out more on Gov. Sarah Palin today, the only thing I have ever heard about her is that she is in the midst of an investigation of the firing of her ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper. (See Update below for correction on this.) It is known that an aide in the governor's office called the Public Safety Commissioner about the trooper before the firing. The Public Safety Commissioner is gone, but the investigation continues and the question that is open is did she have the aide do this as a vengeful act.

It appears the social conservatives will love her so the convention delegates in St. Paul will be happy, but this only makes the pick look like it is from a troubled campaign. A candidate who thinks he is losing and needs a big splash makes this pick. A candidate who fears that part of his base is abandoning him makes his pick. The candidate who makes this pick has just stepped on his main selling point against his opponent -- experience. You can't emphasize the lack of experience of your opponent when you have put a governor of less than 2 years with no foreign policy experience at all a heartbeat a way from the presidency.

When I first heard this name, I thought for sure it was a feignt. By tonight the phrase "Trooper Gate" will be around the news media. I'm curious to see how the media frames the pick. Will it be "daring" or will "desperate" or "risky" rule the day. I fully expect the Democrats to think they just got a gift from McCain.

Update: It seems it was the firing of the Public Safety Commissioner that is under investigation. He (if I have this right now) didn't fire the brother-in-law and then the Governor fired him claiming she "wanted to take the Department of Public Safety in a different, more energetic direction. She replaced him with Chuck Kopp, the former Kenai police chief. But Kopp resigned Friday over questions about a reprimand he received after a sexual harassment complaint lodged against him in Kenai." Quite a reformer, isn't she.