Sarah Palin, the Symbol

Understand that I do not dislike Sarah Palin. I don't know enough about her to dislike her. There are things about her behavior since she's been nominated that I don't like, and I don't like the nomination of her. More to the point, her nomination represents a short sighted gimmick that was not well thought out, well planned, or, as it seems, well executed. She was not ready for the spotlight the McCain camp put her under. She might someday, but right now, she's in way over her head and it shows in her "interviews" and it showed in her debate. The fact that the campaign fought so hard to keep "troopergate" from coming out is telling, as is the absolute refusal of the campaign to allow her to take part in any press conferences where she would have to answer follow-up questions.

Her nomination represents the McCain Campaign's impulsive, reckless decision making process. We cannot have another administration that makes decisions before considering the effects of those decisions. It's like jumping into a lake and then realizing you don't know how to swim. Even worse is that he seems to be taking every opportunity to deny the people the chance to learn about Governor Palin to decide for themselves if she's the best choice for Vice President. The audacity of us! He said she was great, that should be good enough for us.

If he's not going to allow us to gauge his decision-making now, when he's applying for the job, then why should we expect anything different when he's in office if we give him the job? We cannot afford this.

This inability to make reasoned, calculated decisions, or to admit when you've made a mistake - this is what Sarah Palin represents. And this is why I cannot support Senator McCain for President.