John McCain, desperately clinging to the maverick image he once had, has openly promised us nothing but the same failed policies of the Bush years. About the only thing that one can say about McCain is that he is, for a Republican, relatively free of scandal, if you ignore his role in the infamous Savings and Loan scandal. But with his choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate, McCain has now shown that he openly embraces the Republican culture of corruption that has plagued America under Bush. McCain/Palin offers America more Republican failure and corruption.

Looking on the bright side, I think we can all admit that this year's presidential election is a serious blow to the sexism and racism that right wing extremists have been pushing. For the first time in American history, America will see either a black or a woman as President or VP. And, given McCain's age, if McCain wins, there is a pretty reasonable chance that America would see its first woman president. So America is likely to have either a black or a woman President soon enough, and so those idiotic questions I have heard since childhood of "Is America ready for a woman President?" or "Is America ready for a black President?" can finally be answered with a resounding, "Yes...we...ARE!"

Of course, remember that McCain is merely doing what Democrats already did long ago when he picked a woman as his running mate. Democrats were of course the first with the Mondale/Ferraro ticket, so McCain did not make history yet with his choice.

But making history aside, the choice of Sarah Palin was a massive mistake on McCain's part because it allies him with the most corrupt state party in America: the Alaska Republicans. The Alaska Republicans are mired in a bunch of scandals, from the VECO scandal that has sent several Republican state legislators to prison and threatens both Republican Congressman Don Young and Republican Senator Ted Stevens, to Sarah Palin's own recent scandal of petty vindictiveness and abuse of power. By choosing Palin, McCain abandons any remnant of the maverick image he once had. With McCain, the Republican Party remains the Party of Corruption. Sarah Palin is currently UNDER INVESTIGATION for corruption and the Alaska Republican Party she is part of is full of indictments, investigations and corruption like no other Republican Party in the nation. It is a disgrace that of all the great women McCain could have chosen, he chose someone so mired in corruption. It is yet one more example of the Republican disregard for the rule of law.

This is what Planned Parenthood has to say about Palin:

What might have been encouraging news for women was just the opposite — somehow McCain had managed to find a woman running mate even more conservative than he is on women's rights.

It was heartbreaking news, especially on the heels of such an inspiring week. Right now there is so much shameless rhetoric from the Republicans about breaking the glass ceiling, especially from McCain and his running mate. What good does it do to break a glass ceiling with a woman who wants government to control women's reproductive health? That isn't the world I want for my two daughters.

A day later, and I'm still having trouble expressing the depth of my anger about McCain's choice of a running mate. This shameless pandering to women — with a woman who doesn't trust other women to make their own decisions about childbearing — has really got me going.

My dear friends and supporters, the stakes in this election just got unbelievably higher. More than ever before, the November 4 election is the most important vote for women's rights of my generation. And our actions in the next eight weeks — yours, mine, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund's — have never been more critical. Believe me, I don't say that lightly. It's time to get to work — and hard.

If you can only do one thing, it should be to tell every woman you meet that McCain and Palin are the most anti-choice, anti-women pair imaginable. Don't stop at just telling your friends. You can bet that I'll be telling strangers in the checkout line at the grocery store, the women I see at the gym, parents at my kids' schools.

Women trust other women to tell them the straight truth — and the straight truth is that McCain and Palin would take us back to a time when women had absolutely no right to decide whether or not to have a child ... zero. It's been widely reported that Palin is against abortion even in the cases of rape and incest!

More regarding Sarah Palin (from MoveOn.org):

Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:

She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.1
Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.2
She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. 3
Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.4
She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.5
She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.6
How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.7
This is information the American people need to see. Please take a moment to forward this email to your friends and family.

We also asked Alaska MoveOn members what the rest of us should know about their governor. The response was striking. Here's a sample:

She is really just a mayor from a small town outside Anchorage who has been a governor for only 1.5 years, and has ZERO national and international experience. I shudder to think that she could be the person taking that 3AM call on the White House hotline, and the one who could potentially be charged with leading the US in the volatile international scene that exists today. —Rose M., Fairbanks, AK

She is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect. She's a hunter and fisherwoman, but votes against the environment again and again. She ran on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several charges involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO experience beyond Alaska. —Christine B., Denali Park, AK

As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement. Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the reformer she claims to be. —Karen L., Anchorage, AK

Alaskans, collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of the nation. She is doing well running our State, but is totally inexperienced on the national level, and very much unequipped to run the nation, if it came to that. She is as far right as one can get, which has already been communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees (dems, republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels she is ready for the V.P. position.—Sherry C., Anchorage, AK

She's vehemently anti-choice and doesn't care about protecting our natural resources, even though she has worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary. —Marina L., Juneau, AK

I think she's far too inexperienced to be in this position. I'm all for a woman in the White House, but not one who hasn't done anything to deserve it. There are far many other women who have worked their way up and have much more experience that would have been better choices. This is a patronizing decision on John McCain's part- and insulting to females everywhere that he would assume he'll get our vote by putting "A Woman" in that position.—Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK

So Governor Palin is a staunch anti-choice religious conservative. She's a global warming denier who shares John McCain's commitment to Big Oil. And she's dramatically inexperienced.

In picking Sarah Palin, John McCain has made the religious right very happy. And he's made a very dangerous decision for our country.

In the next few days, many Americans will be wondering what McCain's vice-presidential choice means. Please pass this information along to your friends and family.

Thanks for all you do.

–Ilyse, Noah, Justin, Karin and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

2. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17515&id=13661-5690110-xvX3_kx&t=1

3. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13661-5690110-xvX3_kx&t=2

4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13661-5690110-xvX3_kx&t=3

5. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17517&id=13661-5690110-xvX3_kx&t=4

6. "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17518&id=13661-5690110-xvX3_kx&t=5

"Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17519&id=13661-5690110-xvX3_kx&t=6

"Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor," The Times of London, May 23, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17520&id=13661-5690110-xvX3_kx&t=7

7 "McCain met Palin once before yesterday," MSNBC, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=21119&id=13661-5690110-xvX3_kx&t=8

Once again, John McCain represents nothing but a Bush third term.

People were stranded and DYING as McCain and Bush parited it up for McCain's birthday. To me this is the ultimate symbol of what both Bush and McCain are all about: eating their cake while Americans are abandoned, left to die, forgotten by the Republican Party.

John McCain may be something of a Faustian figure. Once the true independent, anti-Bush voice within the Republican Party, McCain decided to make a bargain with Bush, selling his soul to get the nomination. Now he is no longer that voice of independence, no longer a voice of reason. He is the voice through which Bush can continue to push policies that have already failed years ago.

McCain has vowed to continue the Iraq quagmire. In fact he wants it to go on forever, or at least for 1000 years, to use his own words. To an America already tired of this useless war, this is absurd. Why must we remain mired in the Iraq quagmire for decades to come when the real enemy, Osama bin Laden, has been let off the hook by Bush...and apparently now McCain. The voice of America has been loud and clear: Mr. Bush, END THIS WAR! McCain has not heard the voice of America. He has only heard Bush's voice. John McCain has vowed to continue the Iraq war and was the architect of the so-called surge that has failed to bring the quagmire to an end.

America wants a moderate policy on abortion, the one that Hillary Clinton has expressed as "safe, legal and rare." Overwhelmingly THAT is the policy Americans want. Bush has ignored that voice as he takes an extremist stance that would force the victim of rape or incest to carry the child of the criminal who raped her...and McCain has voiced the same extremist view when he vowed to appoint judges who would overturn Roe v. Wade. John McCain has vowed to force women to carry the child of their rapist.

John McCain offers no better economic policy than Bush's failed policy of screwing working class Americans while giving the very wealthy and the big oil companies massive tax breaks. This is the economic policy that has given us TWO recessions with hardly any recovery in between. John McCain has vowed to continue these failed economic policies. I ask you, are you better off than you were 8 years ago? Me neither. America cannot afford 4 more years of failed Bush economics under McCain.

Then let's look at his voting record:

John McCain is anti-Veteran: ironically, McCain is not well liked by veterans groups, receiving a D rating from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a zero rating from The Retired Enlisted Association and in 2005 and 2006 he received 25% or below from the Disabled American Veterans.

John McCain is an anti-choice extremist: John McCain has been one of the most anti-choice Senators, receiving zero ratings from Planned Parenthood and NARAL.

John McCain is anti-farmer: McCain received 25% or lower from the National Farmers Union.

John McCain is weak on civil liberties: McCain rates from 0 to 33% from the American Civil Liberties Union.

John McCain is anti-civil rights: John McCain consistently receives less than 25% from the NAACP and less than 20% from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

John McCain is consistently anti-labor: He receives abyssmal to at best mediocre ratings from just about every union I could find.

About the only areas where McCain doesn't seem to be substantially in lock step with the corrupt and failed policies of the Bush administration are gun issues and the environment. He is merely mediocre on environmental issues rather than abyssmal, and somehow McCain manages to get low ratings from BOTH pro-gun groups like the NRA and from gun control groups like the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. I guess his stand on guns satisfies no one.

John McCain offers America nothing but four more years of failed Bush policies. And Sarah Palin merely adds that stink of corruption that has so dogged the Republican Party for 8 years. America has long realized that the values Republicans talk about are the opposite of the corruption the Republicans practice. Sarah Palin is just one more example of this.