Why Palin Was a Bad Pick

By Taegan Goddard

The National Journal polled five states that voted for President Bush four years ago -- Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia -- and found that less than 40% of voters in those states (except for New Mexico) believe that Sen. Barack Obama is more prepared to be president than Sen. John McCain.

In a political environment not generally friendly to Republicans, McCain's biggest advantage over Obama has been his perceived readiness to be president. He hammered away at this message all summer and kept the race reasonably close.

However, when McCain picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate -- a person just two years removed from being mayor of a town with fewer people than the Fenway Park bleachers -- he essentially gave up experience as a campaign issue. It's hard to argue that Obama is inexperienced when McCain's choice to be just a heartbeat away from the presidency has even less experience.

As the pollsters note, it's hard to see how Obama can get to 270 electoral votes without picking up at least one of these five states. However, it's equally hard to see how McCain can win all of these states without using the experience issue. By choosing Palin -- and giving up that issue -- McCain dramatically hurt his chances of winning the election.

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