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McCain’s Choice of Vice President not to Have Significant Impact of US Election Outcome

Politics Materials 3 September 2008 16:13 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, 3 September/ Trend , corr V. Zhavoronkova/ The republican presidential candidate of US McCain 's selecting senator of Alaska Sara Palin as a vice president can contribute to his rating, but not ensure his victory in the elections.

Presidential candidate from Republicans John McCain introduced Sara Palin, 44-year old governor of Alaska and fighter against corruption and abortion as a his potential vice president. She is the first woman candidate for vice presidency from Republicans and second to Geraldine Ferraro in the history of US presidential elections.

"Because of her conservative positions on social issues, Palin will probably not draw huge numbers of Democratic votes. But she is exciting Republican and conservative voters in a way that McCain alone never could. As a result, Republican turnout and volunteer activity will be much greater," John J. Pitney, the US politicians.

Presidential candidate from Democrats Barack Obama chose an experienced politician Joe Biden as his vice president.

US experts say Palin has both positive and negative qualities as a key rival of McCain which can have an impact on the rating of the candidate in November elections.

According to Arnold Shober, Sarah Palin brings a number of assets to John McCain's campaign for president. She has not been in national politics for years like McCain or Democratic VP Joe Biden. She has been a tough anti-corruption advocate in her home state of Alaska. She is the first female Republican vice presidential candidate. But Palin has very high approval ratings in Alaska and is not from a wealthy family. And she is a surprise pick.

"All four of those characteristics could make her a good fit with John McCain's campaign messages of political independence and government reform," Shober, Assistant Professor of Lawrence University said to Trend by email.

Supporters of ex-rival of Obama from Democratic party Hillary Clinton, who called voters to vote for him, are disappointed in election in favour of Biden. Observers believe Clinton's electorate can support McCain giving his preference to woman Palin.

Shober said Palin may attract those women who were excited by the prospect of finally having a woman on a national ticket that could actually win.

Unlike the current situation, in 1984, republican Ronald Reagan enjoyed more preponderance which did not leave any chances for a woman candidate for vice presidency from Democratic party Geraldine Ferraro.

"Palin may be McCain's ticket to the White House," Shober said.

However, Palin has flows as well.

"The flaw, of course, is that she has a short political resume - she was a mayor of a suburb of Anchorage, Alaska, and is now two years through her first term as Alaska governor," he said.

"Choosing her as a running mate is risky because not many people know about her in much depth," Barry Burdon, US political expert said.

"Palin has not been "vetted" in the way that vice presidential candidates typically are. Although she is young, there may well be issues in her record that are problematic," Burdon, research fellow of Wisconsin University said to Trend by email. 

If earlier the list of virtue of Sara Palin included the fact that she decided to give a birth to a baby with a syndrome of Down, but now there are some rumors in the media. The journalists found out that the baby that was born in April was given birth not by Sara Palin, but by her daughter. If this is true, this fact calls into question the presence of such qualities as honesty and openness in vice president, Interfax reported.

It also became known that 17-year old unmarried girl of Sara is pregnant. Though Sara, mother of 5 children and rabid proponent of abortion, has stated publicly that her daughter is going to get married, the confidence of conservative supporters was frustrated.

However, observers believe in spite of positive and negative factors about Sara's choice, it is too early to speak about the distribution of votes between Republicans and Democrats.

"It is unlikely that Palin will attract hard-core Democrats who were Clinton's base," Shober said.

Burdon said The choice of Palin may help reassure some social conservatives that it is worth supporting the Republican ticket this time, but it is unlikely to attract many Obama voters.

"Perhaps Palin would have appealed more to Hillary Clinton supporters had the Democratic convention not been so successful at getting entire entire party apparatus on the same page," Burdon said.

Rating of McCain can increase after his choice of Palin as a vice president.

"We need to wait a week or two and see how Palin is received by the party, the media, and the public," Burdon added.


The correspondent can be contacted at: [email protected]

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