The Hoynes Test

[womzilla]

One of the main plot-lines of the third season of The West Wing was the ramp-up of President Bartlett's re-election campaign. Episode 3-17, "Stirred"*, focused on the electoral question of whether to replace the sitting Vice President, John Hoynes, with a new candidate. The campaign manager (Bruno Gianelli) very much wants to replace him and has the numbers to prove that there are several other candidates who would help the ticket more.

We know from previous episodes that Bartlett and Hoynes still bear mutual animosity because of some things they said about each other during the primaries four years earlier; and we know that Hoynes is a recovering alcoholic, and by the end of the episode so does Bartlett. Despite this, Bartlett is adamant that Hoynes remain in his position. When asked why, he writes four words on a piece of paper, hands it to Hoynes, and walks out to other business, the whole matter settled for him.

The four words summing up why Hoynes remains on the ticket?

"Because I could die."

You can be sure that not even for an instant did John McCain--the oldest man to seek the presidency, who has had recurrent instances of cancer--consider the Hoynes Test. Not even for five seconds before making the announcement did McCain think, "If I die, can this person be a good president?" He craves power the way the Hamburgler craves the tasty flesh of Mayor McCheese, and anything that advances his own power he will seize without a second's hesitation. Palin was put on the ticket to suppress the post-convention bump that Obama was already enjoying, and to provide a distraction to the ADD-addled children of the campaign press; you, and your government, and the future of America, weren't even fleeting thoughts in the dimmest recesses of his brain.

You are nothing except the object over which McCain wants to rule.

"Because I could die"? If McCain dies, the world can go to hell, as far as he cares. After him, the floods.

Edited to add: More on these topics from TNH.

*This is a fan transcript. It's pretty accurate, though I noticed that it gives "deficit hogs" for "deficit hawks".

Comments

[bugsybanana.livejournal.com]

Let's not forget that Palin was also chosen to shore up the Christian-right base, at their behest. This may be the most important reason of all.

As far as McCain is concerned, the theocrats are just fine for the likes of us if he can't be in charge.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

More evidence of the McCain campaign's level of confidence in their VP. (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014814.php)

[dhole.livejournal.com]

I think if I agreed with McCain's policies in general, I would be willing to accept a purely tactical VP choice, like Palin. I wouldn't be happy about it, but there are some pretty stark philosophical differences between McCain and Obama, and for a partisan of either side of that gulf, the election is going to be one where winning is important. Even if I didn't see a Palin presidency as a good thing, McCain isn't dead yet, and he may not die for several years.

That said, it's pretty clear that choosing a candidate based on some surface similarity to a losing Democratic candidate has gotten McCain a short term bounce. But I don't know if that's going to last. I think that when they finally get into the voting booth, despite their disappointment in the result of the Democratic primary, Gravel voters are too canny to vote for McCain just because Palin is from Alaska.

[avram]

It's already not lasting. Polls show negative opinions of Palin have been growing sharply over the past week.

[sarah-ovenall.livejournal.com]

Mmm, Mayor McCheese.

(sorry, I couldn't resist)

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I was very proud of that simile.