Politico

Palin dissed veep job

August 29th, 2008 · No Comments

If Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin got the job as running mate for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), count her as one of the most surprised.

In an interview just a month ago, she dissed the job, saying it didn’t seem “productive.”

In fact, she said she doesn’t know what the vice president does.

Larry Kudlow of CNBC’s “Kudlow & Co.” asked her about the possibility of becoming McCain ticket mate.
Palin replied: “[A]s for that V.P. talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the V.P. does every day? I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that V.P .slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here for the rest of the U.S., before I can even start addressing that question.”

Her evident distaste for the office would be part of her appeal: It would show McCain is running an anti-Washington, reformist campaign.

But it also points to a huge negative for her: It robs Republicans of their most effective argument against Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) – that he lacks experience.

Before Palin’s election as the state’s first woman governor in December 2006, she served terms on the city council of Wasilla, Alaska (population 6,700), and two terms as the mayor/manager of Wasilla.