John McCain was recently on Jay Leno’s show and, rather than learn from the President’s recent example, McCain said something inappropriate, too. Instead of targeting a whole group of people; however, Senator McCain directed his attempt at humor towards one person: his recent running mate Sarah Palin. McCain was reeling off a list of strong potential Republican presidential candidates for 2012, and listed a few governors. For some reason, McCain said Mitt Romney’s name twice, but the senator failed to mention Palin, the governor of Alaska, at all. After leaving her off his list, McCain remarked on the potential fall out for his omission.
When you boil it all down, Sarah Palin is either a good choice to be President, or she’s not. I realize this is kind of an obvious point, but what I am trying to get at is that either way, John McCain’s misguided humor was totally lacking in class. If she is a good choice for the Republicans, then the Republican standard bearer (which I guess McCain is as the most recent Republican presidential candidate) shouldn’t be mocking her on national TV. If she is a bad choice then McCain screwed up the biggest decision he had to make as a presidential candidate. If his judgment was so bad then why is he laughing at her? He should be apologizing to his party, if not the country.
Really, McCain’s conduct with Jay Leno is why conservatives were so lukewarm on the senator all along. He said he was one of them, yet time and again he seemed more interested in playing to the media elite. Most of the people who disrespect Sarah Palin wouldn’t vote for a Republican anyway, so mocking her doesn’t really score many points for the Republican cause. Many conservatives loved her (and still do). This helped McCain on Election Day. Conservatives weren’t sure about his values, but they felt that she was a kindred spirit, so they came out and voted for McCain who didn’t lose as badly as he otherwise would have.
Who’s the best Republican candidate for 2012? Does it really matter? It’s three and a half years away. What did Sarah Palin actually do to earn McCain’s disdain? She agreed to stand by him when his prospects looked bleak, and she played the role of the good soldier. If she was the wrong choice for the position then she should be laughing at him. If she was the right choice and he is laughing at her anyway then maybe Republicans are bettor off not having Senator McCain in the White House.