Despite the slogan “Country first,” the McCain team focused exclusively on politics-desperate for an edge that would help the GOP win a rare third term, even in a weak economy. Historically, vice-presidential nominees have been selected for a variety of reasons, a combination of campaign politics and compatible skill sets. Faced with the choice of picking a fight with the most loyal (and ideological) Republican voters, or picking a more doctrinaire candidate, McCain decided to appease the base. ![]() But after Senator Lindsey Graham floated the idea, the hard-core party faithful rejected the notion out of hand. According to aides, McCain wanted to confront extreme partisanship and forge a kind of national-unity government built on comity and compromise, pledging to serve a single term. In 2008, John McCain wanted to change politics with his selection of a running mate his idea was to pick Joe Lieberman, an independent senator who caucused with the Democrats. A decade later, it’s clear that Palin was more than a historical footnote she was the harbinger of things to come. Her candidacy revealed that long-standing political norms were being pushed aside by a new style of divisive, personality-driven populism. ![]() At the time, Palin might not have been able to name a single newspaper or magazine-but she did read where the electorate, at least a significant part of it, was moving. Ten years ago, we first met Sarah Palin, then the governor of Alaska, for a series of TV interviews.
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