"In choosing Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, John McCain has chosen for the future"
About this Quote
Giuliani’s line is doing the most common thing in politics: turning a risky bet into a moral inevitability. “Has chosen for the future” sounds like an endorsement of innovation, but it’s really a rhetorical escape hatch. It dodges the obvious question in 2008 - is Sarah Palin qualified? - by reframing the choice as destiny rather than judgment. If the “future” is on your side, the present’s criticisms look petty, even small-minded.
The syntax is telling. McCain “has chosen” Palin, but Giuliani insists McCain has “chosen for the future,” as if the ticket isn’t merely a campaign tactic but a generational pivot. It’s a neat piece of compression: the anxieties swirling around McCain’s age, the Republican Party’s desire to energize a conservative base, and the hunger for a new political character all get packed into a single forward-looking noun. “Future” becomes a blank screen voters can project onto - reform, youth, disruption, maybe even feminism - without Giuliani having to make a defensible claim about experience.
Context sharpens the intent. After Obama’s message of change captured the national mood, Republicans needed their own version of newness. Palin’s biography and media magnetism offered that, along with a populist edge. Giuliani’s subtext: stop auditing the resume and start buying the story. It’s a salesman’s pivot, less about Palin herself than about licensing the party to call a tactical surprise a visionary plan.
The syntax is telling. McCain “has chosen” Palin, but Giuliani insists McCain has “chosen for the future,” as if the ticket isn’t merely a campaign tactic but a generational pivot. It’s a neat piece of compression: the anxieties swirling around McCain’s age, the Republican Party’s desire to energize a conservative base, and the hunger for a new political character all get packed into a single forward-looking noun. “Future” becomes a blank screen voters can project onto - reform, youth, disruption, maybe even feminism - without Giuliani having to make a defensible claim about experience.
Context sharpens the intent. After Obama’s message of change captured the national mood, Republicans needed their own version of newness. Palin’s biography and media magnetism offered that, along with a populist edge. Giuliani’s subtext: stop auditing the resume and start buying the story. It’s a salesman’s pivot, less about Palin herself than about licensing the party to call a tactical surprise a visionary plan.
Quote Details
| Topic | Vision & Strategy |
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