How to Judge these things

MoLT wonders how good of a decision this was for McCain, given that Pilan clearly is not ready to be President. Until McCain picked Pilan, I really hadn't given thought to experience at all. Obama has four years of experience in national politics, but has spent the last 18 months campaigning. Nevertheless, he feels competent - he exudes it almost. But, while Pilan immediately does not seem incompetent (like Obama, she's a freshman when it comes to holding a major office as governor), I share MoLT's general discomfort.

I suppose there is a point where you need to judge these things by some other metric than just whether they make sense strategically, but I guess I keep going back to the issue in my mind that politics is all public choice. It's all rational decision-making by political actors. McCain cannot implement the policies he ultimately believes are critical to America's prosperity and safety if he is not President. And inTrade has had him losing this race before he even was the Republican candidate. Futures for a Democratic win has been at 60% - an electoral landslide - since late 2007. If you are in a position where the stakes are high, but you are behind, the "right choice" is to gamble big. You need that variance to help you.

So, I hear what people are saying, and I am sympathetic, but I hold firm to the belief that this is exactly the way the system requires that political actors behave, if they are in fact rational at all (and I hope they are). It's hard for me to judge his choices as irresponsible or reckless when they seem dictated by the near impossible race he's in.