Game Change: Elliot Davis

1. Why is political vetting so important?

Political vetting is so important because it allows you to understand your candidate, beyond what is just at face value. For instance, Sarah Palin was supposedly the picture perfect vice president. She was a republican, a mother, a governor with astronomically good approval ratings; everything was flawless. However, they essentially appointed her as a figurehead, rather than a representative. This isn’t to say that they didn’t expect her to take part in policy decisions, but that they appointed her because she looked good. This ended up yielding horrendous consequences, as she basically went rogue and decided to pursue a campaign completely separate from McCain’s. Her radical ideas even forced McCain to denounce many of the things that she said, specifically the ad hominem attacks on Obama. This proves that, without proper vetting, candidates that seem promising often end up being bad choices. Without Palin in the equation, John McCain probably would’ve had a much better chance beating Obama, and maybe even would’ve pulled out with a victory.

2. Compare Sarah Palin’s level of knowledge to that of Mike Pence or Donald Trump...is it a fair comparison?

I believe that it is a very fair comparison, especially when talking about Donald Trump. Mike Pence is a terrible human being and his policy decisions are horrendous, but that shouldn’t be mixed up with intelligence. Pence is relatively smart, especially when compared to Trump. Trump, on the other hand, has had a rise very similar to Palin’s. Trump had almost no political experience, yet rose to the top of the ranks based on charisma and fear mongering. He didn’t need knowledge about politics because the audience he was appealing too had no knowledge about politics. This is similar to Palin, as she was appealing to those who were uneducated and fearful. The way that she gained supporters was by making illogical and unwarranted claims about Obama that generated terror among the general population. The only reason why Trump was successful and Palin wasn’t was because McCain had a very different audience in mind, and it was almost as if she was running against the candidate whom she represented. That is, Palin essentially attempted to take the presidency away from McCain by reconstructing policy positions, and this basically led the entire campaign to implode.