Out of the Loop

Not since President Franklin Roosevelt neglected to tell Vice President Harry Truman that he was building an atom bomb has a Vice President (or VP candidate) been as "out of the loop" as Sarah Palin appeared yesterday when she found out about McCain pulling out of Michigan by reading it in the newspaper. This might be a good thing if McCain is elected, because the further out of the loop Palin is, the better. But, since John McCain has the best chance of dying since William Henry Harrison, his Vice President should not only be in the loop but must be prepared to be President from day one.

Being out of the loop may have just been a campaign "slip up" in a campaign which appears to be cornering the market on campaign blunders, or was it intentional. Michigan is a state which John McCain and most political observers believed would be competitive this year and provided the chance of a Democratic pick up. Recent polls have shown that a Michigan win for McCain is about as likely as a Michigan Wolverine Big Ten Football title this year. But why not get the news to Palin?

What is even more problematic than Palin's lack of knowledge of the Michigan decision is her response after reading a newspaper article about the pull out. Palin said in a Fox News interview yesterday, "I read that this morning, and I fired off a quick e-mail (questioning the move.) Todd and I, we'd be happy to get to Michigan and walk through those plants of the car manufacturers. We'd be so happy to get to speak to the people in Michigan who are hurting because the economy is hurting... I want to get back to Michigan, and I want to try." Well maybe there's something to be said about giving it the "ole college try."

First of all, if you read it in the newspaper, why not call John McCain and say, "did you forget to tell me something about Michigan?" Does it really make sense or show good judgment to tell the media, albeit Fox News, that you are so out of the loop that you have to read about major campaign decisions in the newspaper. Second, why would you also tell the media that you're questioning what appears to be a very sound decision by the McCain campaign?