Why Palin?

By Jennifer J. Foster

If you ever wondered why John McCain went with Sarah Palin as his vice presidential pick, this post’s for you.

The CNN Political Ticker has a piece with the lead attorney who was in charge McCain’s VP vetting process. In short, he says Palin told them “everything” about her background and knocked questions about foreign policy “out of the park.“

No, really:

He said he gave her three “leading” questions, asking if she was prepared to use nuclear weapons, why she wanted to be vice president, and if the CIA located Osama bin Laden, but shooting him would result in civilian casualties, what would she do. Culvahouse said she “knocked those three questions out of the park.“

Certainly the Palin pick was high risk. And I believe it had the potential for high reward. But she was either the worst-managed candidate in American political history or she just cracked under the pressure (or maybe it was some of both). There is no question that she mobilized the base of the Republican Party. But it wasn’t long before she was doing at least as much to alienate independents and conservative Democrats from McCain.

It’s hard to say what the contest would have looked like without Palin. A safer pick might have fortified McCain’s suppoort among those non-traditional Republican groups I mentioned. But would it have fired up the base? I doubt it.

In any event, all indications are that Palin plans another run on a national ticket—and she has every intention of being the one doing the vetting the next time around.

Uh oh ...

By Jennifer J. Foster

In case you missed it in all the other news this week, The New York Times reported Monday that federal investigators are taking a harder look at U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., and the actions he took as he lobbyied former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich for the appointment to succeed Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.

Jackson, you might remember, met with Blagojevich about the appointment fewer than 24 hours before the latter was arrested by FBI agents in an early-morning raid at his home—a dramatic action that U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald was necessary to scuttle what investigators believed were Blagojevich’s “imminent” plans to name Obama’s replacement.

From the Times:

Mr. Jackson landed in his own political hot seat as federal prosecutors revealed wiretap evidence that one of his fund-raisers had promised to raise $1.5 million for Mr. Blagojevich in exchange for the appointment.

Mr. Jackson asserts he has done nothing wrong and had not known about the fund-raiser’s activities. But with new indications that federal prosecutors and Congressional ethics investigators are stepping up their interest in Mr. Jackson, a nagging question follows him: Was that December meeting with Mr. Blagojevich a good-faith effort to land the Senate job or a charade to conceal behind-the-scenes maneuvers with Mr. Blagojevich to pay to play?

The Chicago Sun-Times has more:

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s camp was told last year that U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) would raise up to $5 million in campaign cash for the ex-governor if he was appointed to President Obama’s U.S. Senate seat, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

The overture came from at least two members of the local Indian community who approached the Blagojevich fund-raising team last fall, sources say.
Besides the $5 million to be raised by Jackson, the proposal also included another $1 million for Blagojevich’s campaign fund that would come from Indian donors, sources say.

No wonder the feds have taken a healthier interest.

Blagojevich has vowed (and vowed, and vowed, and vowed ...) that he will plead not guilty to corruption charges and fight in court to clear his name.

But here’s the thing. If things start looking bad for Blago, he could change his mind. Perhaps he’ll awaken one morning with a determination that if he’s going down, he won’t be going down alone.

If he decides to sing, how many other high-profile politicians could he take with him?

Of course, that scenario assumes that things could look worse in a court of law for Blago than they do in the court of public opinion now ... and maybe that’s why Chicago pols don’t seem too concerned for their future.

Well, he’ll get at least six votes ...

By Jennifer J. Foster

U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd is in trouble.

DEEP trouble.

It’s no secret that Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut, faces a tough re-election bid next year: His reputation has been badly wounded in the AIG bonus mess and the it’s-not-a-sweetheart-deal-I-swear mortgage mess involving Countrywide.

But now we know just how bad things look for him.

Out of the nearly 400 donors Dodd listed on his first-quarter fundraising report, five—count ‘em: FIVE—live in Connecticut.

Ouch.

More here.