Good at politicking, bad at governing

John McCain says one thing with his words and another with his actions. His choice of Sarah Palin for VP is an example. Palin is a poster-child for a large part of what's been wrong with the Republican Party for the last eight years. She's been pretty good at getting herself elected, but has governed poorly. We all know people who can claim some executive experience, but were basically incompetent in their positions. Remember "Helluva job, Brownie"?

How can McCain claim to represent the kind of change America needs when he has selected a person who as mayor and governor fired people because they weren't sufficiently loyal to her; as mayor considered getting books she didn't like banned from the library, was threatened with recall and left her town in debt when she ran for lieutenant governor (and lost); and campaigned for governor in support of earmarks like "the bridge to nowhere" but dropped that project once in office, instead taking the federal money and using it for her own pet projects - some of dubious value. Now, in her stump speeches, she continues to include a line bragging that she told Congress 'Thanks. But no thanks' to the Bridge to Nowhere when the statement is a flat out lie.

There's no denying that Sarah Palin is likable in much the same way as President George W Bush has been. But, there are too many things about the way Sarah Palin has governed and about her mind-set that remind me of the worst things about him. This, combined with McCain's record of voting with Bush's positions 90% of the time, leads me to believe that the McCain-Palin ticket will keep the country headed in the wrong direction.