Why did McCain pick someone that 6 out of 10 Republicans have never heard of?

Question

More than 7 out of 10 Americans interviewed on Friday night said they had never heard of Palin, or didn't know enough about her to have an opinion.

Palin rates substantially below other recent vice presidential selectees in terms of perceptions that she is qualified to serve as president. Asked if from what they know about Sarah Palin, they believe she is "qualified to serve as president it if becomes necessary," only 39% of Americans say yes, while almost as many, 33%, say no.

Answer 1

this coming from a group that elected a peanut farmer.and bill clinton had the same experience!

Answer 2

Probably because 6 out of 10 Republicans had never heard of her.

How many politicians can you name whom you didn't learn about in an article involving an intern, a men's bathroom, or some drunken fool thing.

Answer 3

McCain Criteria.... If she is going to dumb, she can at least be pretty..

Answer 4

90% of Americans never heard on Osama Obama either until he started laying out of work to run for office.

Most white people HATE Obama and are just not willing to say it....till election time when they will OVERWHELMINGLY vote against the Muslim Mullatto.

And Biden will step on his Johnson....just give him a week or two.

Answer 5

because he thinks she'll pull votes from barry's 7 secret states.

edit:and she hasn't killed any of the 5 out of 5  children she's had,although i'll bet that last one is a real inconvenience.

Answer 6

Because 6 of 10  had not heard of her.

Answer 7

It's a scam for Hillary voters.  

Answer 8

It is a maverick move of maverickly maverickish proportions.

He surrounds himself with submissive former beauty queens and trophy women with little substance then looks at their behinds when they speak. He had his eyes firmly on Palin's backside during her speech while twisting his wedding ring. It was really gross.

But very republican. They'll love this choice.

Answer 9

He chose her because she will prove to be a very good VP candidate. She has a track record of solid conservative beliefs that she has lived up to in her personal life. She is engaging and personable. Unlike Obama, she has accomplished things in her short political life. And unlike Biden, Obama or McCain, she has actual executive experience.

Answer 10

Sarah Palin makes Democrat VP nominee Joe Biden appear stale and irrelevant, just the kind of perception-based counter-jab McCain may need to take down the Chosen One.

Answer 11

Goodness sake, thank the GODS that government isn't run based on the ignorance of the PUBLIC!

Not on polls, not on what they don't know, not on rumor, not on name-calling, not on political bigotry, not on what other countries want us to do.

Thank goodness for someone who chooses based on what THEY know.

Democrats for McCain/Palin.

Answer 12

He picked Palin, who does not have very much on the ball and brings nothing to the ticket except her genitalia, because he wanted someone to whom he could appear to be superior.  As time goes by, the number who say "no" to that polling question will rise.

Answer 13

That is easy, two reasons.

One she is a stanch conservative who follows what she preaches, which many conservatives believed McCain is a rhino. This should help with that, I'm happy due to this issue as well.

Second, to get female support. McCain has loads of experience himself (so he is not in desperate need of people with experience), and is somewhat of a moderate, sadly both McCain's policies and Obama's are strikingly similar. The only real difference is how they want to handle the economy. So for Hillary supporters to support McCain to Begin with is not that far fetched. With a female VP it also might help get more voters.

Simple as that.

Added: as well as others have pointed out as well, Obama was never heard of until he ran for president.

Answer 14

I think it was a very smart political move on his part to pick a female. Then you have to ask yourself if there are many other female Republicans like Governors or Senators to choose from. It's not a very big list.

The fact that she is not all that well known to most voters is not as important as that she is the right person for the job ( if she gets the VP job that is).

Answer 15

Because congress has a 18% approval rating and Americans are sick of the swamp of corrupt Washington lifers who are destroying our country.

She is a fresh name who, even in her short career has shown that she is not a "politics as usual" person. She has already exposed corruption within her own party ranks which speaks volumes to me.

Answer 16

6 out of 10? I would think it would be more like 8 out of 10.

Answer 17

Panic and desperation.

Answer 18

Because 9.5 out of 10 people approve of her.

Answer 19

This show the lack of good judgment McCain have .Who is Sara ,Palin She was elected Alaska 's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.1

Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.2

She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. 3

Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.4

She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.5

She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears a

OBAMA/BIDEN 2008

Answer 20

Frankly I'm surprised 40% knew who she was!  Most Americans can't name the Speaker of the House or the Vice-President either.  And don't get me started on how many Americans can name both their US Senators!

Look - granted she is an unconventional pick; but she is a very exciting pick too - I googled her immediately yesterday and really liked what I learned: a genuine reformer, a real record of executive management, fighting corruption in her own party, etc.  

I think we will all get to know her better over the next four years.

She is likely our next Vice-President and she may very well become our first female President.

Answer 21

Has McCain ever cared about popularity?  No.  He chose who he thought was best for the job.  Either respect his decision or say nothing.

Answer 22

Because GOD is on his side!

Answer 23

He really thinks he's going to attract Hillary's voters. He's wrong. McCain will get the evangelical vote with this move, but we all know he's been sucking up to them the entire campaign. So, bringing in a woman whose ideas of feminism bring back the image of a smiling wife in an apron bearing a tray of freshly baked cookies will not help. It always bothers me that anti-women women will drive on roads built by feminists, then deny feminism.

Answer 24

Frankly, I wasn't really excited about any of the

men that had been mentioned that McCain

might choose (Lieberman, in particular), but

now I'm so excited......this is a very smart

move to choose an outsider who has a mind

of her own. She's very Conservative which

most Republican voters wanted. She's not

gonna take guns away from you hunters as

she's a hunter also. She will not vote to murder

innocent babies. She won't have a lot of

taxpayer money going for a bridge to nowhere.

That's the kind of candidate we've been waiting

for finally........whoopee. To heck with polls, as

usual. They're only used to try to persuade the

voters to lean a certain way.

Answer 25

Palin challenges traditional Republican views, so those of us who pay attention already knew her, google the half dozen websites dedicated to drafting her and articles written over a year ago recommending her.

Answer 26

I had never heard of her before either. Maybe to get the woman's votes?

Answer 27

The only logical reason why he picked her is because "Governor Palin is chair of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, a multi-state government agency that promotes the conservation and efficient recovery of domestic oil and natural gas resources"

Seriously, lets look at the facts

1. She directly opposes Hillary Clinton on the issues like abortion, evironment, creationism, g*y marriage.

2. She doesn't know what a VP does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9pnzQ96k...

The only other logical thing I can come up with is OIL!

Answer 28

WTF ever heard of Obama before he ran.

Answer 29

In a word: ovaries.

You'll LOVE this article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-e...

Answer 30

Democrats chose a nominee few had ever hear of, so stranger things have happened.

Answer 31

He thought to himself, "How can I pick a worse VP than Dan Quayle?"