It’s no fluke that John McCain has gotten this far. He is a tough and talented politician with a streak of independent actions that has generated respects from his peers from both sides of the isle. Along the way, McCain has weathered many storms from being a prisoner of war in Vietnam to the Saving & Loan scandal and his wife Cindy’s drugs addiction. His presidential campaign was nearly obliterated back in July 2007 when his campaign’s war chest was almost empty and key staffers like campaign manager Terry Nelson and chief strategist John Weaver resigned. But one crisis after another, John McCain has overcome many odds to become one of the more successful U.S. Senators in history and now the Republican Party’s 2008 presidential candidate.

At 72 years old, McCain knows this 2008 presidential election is his last chance to attain his ultimate ambition: to serve America at the highest office. But once again several hurricanes have risen in his path, threatening to become a perfect storm to thwart his ambition.

The first hurricane is a real one named Gustav, which has pounded the gulf coast right when the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul was about to start. Given the fiasco of Hurricane Katrina, the Republican Party and the McCain campaign have decided that they cannot afford to proceed with the convention’s celebratory activities, which in turns has dampened the mood. Concurrently, another challenge for McCain at this event is how to project a strong image on national security while distancing from President Bush, whose approval ratings have been in the low 30% for two years now.

The second hurricane is a metaphor with a real person’s name of Palin. Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, was announced as John McCain’s vice presidential running mate the day after the Democratic National Convention ended to “wow” the country to deflate any bounce his rival Barack Obama may gain. Unfortunately, Palin, the Republican Party’s first-ever female vice-presidential nominee, has been anything but a constant crisis management for the McCain campaign from the defense of her experience to the “troopergate” investigation and her teenage daughter’s pregnancy. All within 72 hours.

History has shown rarely a vice presidential nominee would make a difference in any presidential elections. On the other hand, a bad pick could hurt a campaign or become a drag in an administration (one thinks of Dan Quayle). With Sarah Palin, the media and the blogosphere have been having a field day.

At first everyone’s focus was on her qualifications. Robert Elisberg proclaims in the Huffington Post that the selection of Palin is “the worse in the U.S. history.” The blogosphere is filled with comments about she’s no comparison to Hilary Clinton or even Geraldine Ferraro. Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report facetiously defends Palin’s time length of experience by factoring in the long daylight hours in Alaska.

On the other hand, in the conservative Weekly Standard, William Kristol advocates that “Palin will be a compelling and mold-breaking example for lots of Americans who are told every day that to be even a bit conservative or Christian or old-fashioned is bad form. In this respect, Palin can become an inspirational figure and powerful symbol.”

Clearly with the selection of Palin, the McCain campaign wants to attract the independent and women voters who are unhappy with Hilary Clinton’s failed presidential bid and pass over as Obama’s running mate. Her choice is also supposed to symbolize an agent of change who came from outside of the political establishment.

Five days after the announcement of Sarah Palin, the scrutiny is now less about her qualifications and what she represents but on her alleged abuse of political office and pregnant teenage daughter. When asked for comments about rumors spread by his campaign on Palin’s family, Barack Obama declared that his campaign did not play any role and added that families should be off-limits. He also mentioned that his mother was 18 years old when she was pregnant with him.

Effectively, the introduction of Sarah Palin has drowned out the expected media buzz for the Obama-Biden ticket at the end of the DNC event over the Labor Day weekend. Perversely, if Palin’s “troopergate” and family issue continue to fester (not to mention whatever else might be unearthed by the hordes of media currently in Alaska), her nomination may fall apart and thus the crisis might sap all the energy at the Republican National Convention, which has already been diminished by Hurricane Gustav.

But again don’t count out John McCain. He has overcome all types of challenges and political storms before. The difference this time is that the 2008 presidential election culminates the highest stake of his political career.

Julian Do