A short time ago, ABC aired a TV series starring Geena Davis, called Commander in Chief. It was about the first woman President of the United States, and was a pretty good--if short-lived--show, in the spirit of Aaron Sorkin's The West Wing.
In Commander in Chief, Davis' Vice President Mackenzie Allen becomes President upon the illness and then death of the elected President. It turns out, the President and many other people from his party do not want Allen to take over the Presidency. She was a trick, a ploy to get voters when she was added to the ticket, not anybody in her party's real idea of a President.
In the series, Davis' character rebuffs the party's efforts to have her resign, and instead turns out to be a capable and effective--and first female--President of the United States, despite what everyone thought of her.
Now, back in real life, John McCain has selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running mate. While most people (including me) don't know much about her yet, I think it is safe to assume that her resume was not the only reason McCain picked her. In fact, I don't think it would be going too far out on a limb to say, it was the only pick he could make that would steal Barack Obama's thunder, after a bravura speech at the Democratic National Convention. Picking Pawlenty, Brownback or Ridge would not have garnered the coverage McCain is now getting.
But don't forget that today is also John McCain's 72nd birthday. And that he is not an especially spry 72. And that he hasn't been in the best of health since he joined the AARP. The setup for this potential Presidency (much as I once thought a John Edwards Presidency would echo The American President) could put us in a Commander in Chief scenario. And would Palin be a match for fictional President Mackenzie Allen?
