Even After Being Humiliated by McCain, Sarah Palin Gives Classy Response to Death
Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor who was John McCain’s 2008 running mate, expressed her condolences to the McCain family and a tribute to the former Arizona senator in a Sunday social media statement.
Palin had recently been singled out for criticism by McCain in his final book, in which he expressed regret at picking her as his vice presidential running mate in 2008.
“Today we lost an American original,” Palin’s statement Facebook statement read.
“Sen. John McCain was a maverick and a fighter, never afraid to stand for his beliefs. John never took the easy path in life — and through sacrifice and suffering he inspired others to serve something greater than self.
“John McCain was my friend. I will remember the good times,” she added.
“My family and I send prayers for Cindy and the McCain family.”
The post included a picture of Palin with McCain on stage during the 2008 campaign,.
In a documentary accompanying McCain’s final book, “The Restless Wave,” McCain called picking Palin “another mistake that I made” during his career.
“While he continues to defend Ms. Palin’s performance, Mr. McCain uses the documentary and the book to unburden himself about not selecting (Joseph) Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-independent, as his running mate,” The New York Times reported in May.
Lieberman had been a vociferous defender of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan at a time when the Democrats had made them a key focus of the 2008 campaign. He was also a close friend of McCain’s.
However, he was vehemently pro-abortion and had been Al Gore’s running mate just eight years earlier, and he still tended to caucus with the Democrats on most issues. Advisers told McCain that kind of baggage in a running mate would almost certainly kill any chances the Republican ticket would have.
“It was sound advice that I could reason for myself,” McCain wrote in the book. “But my gut told me to ignore it and I wish I had.”
McCain instead went with Palin, then an up-and-comer in the party.
While she initially made serious inroads with voters, the media began to focus intensely on her gaffes; their focus infuriated conservatives since, of course, they mostly ignored similar malapropisms from Obama’s running mate, Joe Biden.
Regardless, whatever rivalry, whatever enmity may have existed has been painted over by the brush of the Creator. And that’s how it ought to be.
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