Anche l'Economist riconosce che la scelta di Sarah Palin da parte di McCain è stata un azzardo.
[...] the risks of choosing such an unknown quantity are enormous. An important aspect in selecting a vice-president is to reassure the electorate that should anything happen to the man in the Oval Office there is a competent and trustworthy stand-in ready to take over. John McCain’s age (he is 72) is an underlying factor with voters. Although Ms Palin’s youthfulness, she is 44, is an eye-catching contrast to the top of the ticket, questions will be raised about her ability to run the country if Mr McCain should ever be incapacitated.
FiveThirtyEight nota che non è nemmeno questione di esperienza. E' proprio che è troppo "nuova". E non c'è abbastanza tempo per farla arrivare nel "top of the mind", anche spendendo miliardi.
Because it isn't really an argument about experience per se. It's an argument about whether she meets the basic threshold test of voters feeling comfortable with having her as President. Experience is a part of that, but so are essentially the aesthetics of it: picturing a young, attractive, kooky, female governor from Alaska who has an accent straight out of Fargo in the White House is going to be a much bigger leap for many voters than picturing Barack Obama there. And whereas Obama has had eighteen months to make himself familiar to voters, the McCain campaign has barely any time to roll Palin out. It's not that she's inexperienced so much as that she's new.
Andrew Sullivan - che ha anche scoperto che nella campagna del 2000 la Palin, allora sindaco di Wasilla (8.000 abitanti), appoggiò quel vecchio arnese di Pat Buchanan - aggiunge che McCain ha incontrato la Palin solo una volta. Che dire? L'avrà guardata negli occhi.
Non basta? Pare che non sappia bene cosa fa un vicepresidente.
Economist, FiveThirtyEight, Andrew Sullivan, Crooks and Liars