It is to early to tell whether or not John McCain's selection of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin is a stroke of brilliance or a blunder of epic proportions. The resume that she brings to the table is a pretty thin one having served as a small town mayor and now as governor for less than two years of a state that is electorally insignificant (3 electoral votes) and has less than a hundred thousand more people than Boston. The resume issue is difficult for the democrats to criticize since in reality she actually has more executive management experience than Obama does, in fact that goes for Biden and McCain as well. And after all, she is second on the ticket not first.
The three areas that it would appear that McCain felt the need to address in his VP selection were in order, the Republican conservative base, women in general and lastly energy issues which may be the real wild card in this selection.
The conservative base of the party seems to be wildly embracing Palin because she is on the right side of all their issues. She is a pro life, pro gun and a tough on spending conservative.
Unlike a man who can only talk about the issue of being pro abortion or anti abortion, Ms. Palin has actually lived it. Governor Palin's youngest child was born with Downs Syndrome which in my mind is as absolute a demonstration of your belief as can be found.
Will Palin be attractive to middle of the road women who were on the fence in this race? Or will she be a magnet for the disaffected Hillary voters? I admit to having no clue other than to say that if having a woman on the ticket is important then the Republicans are the only choice. The ultimate political glass ceiling would be as close to being broken as a heartbeat away.
Biden's hands will be full in any debate. He won't be able to touch any taboos such as who's watching the kids, or make light of her lack of military or foreign policy credentials without both infuriating women or exposing his own candidates weakness. It is unlikely that he will intimidate her since Joe's stomping ground is the sedate halls of the Senate while this woman has been roaming the wild frontier with a gun in her hands.
The real issue that may be of help to McCain in the race and one that Palin has real hands on experience is energy. Although politically insignificant from a voter and electoral college standpoint, Alaska is of enormous importance to the country from a natural resource and environmental standpoint.
Energy is likely to continue to be a major issue as we roll up to decision time in November. What McCain has added to the ticket is the number one political manager of energy issues in the country. An Alaskan governor is the head of one of the few petro states we have in the country. Almost 80 percent of Alaska's state revenue comes from the oil industry. If high energy prices continue to be near the top of the issues list then Palin is someone who has some answers. She has been head to head with big oil and got some things done. http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/energywire/2008/08/sarah_palin_and_big_oil.html
The choice of Palin and the timing seem to have accomplished a goal or two for McCain. She is largely unknown and an unconventional pick. She is every bit as youthful and attractive as Obama while being a huge contrast to Biden. She shores up McCain's weakness with the core of his party and at least has women thinking about giving a mother of five the second most important job in the world of politics. The timing of the selection pushes Obama and the democratic convention off the news cycle this Labor Day weekend. The talk on the news programs is likely to be all about Sarah.
Obama's pick was a safe conventional one that neither hurt him or helped. McCain's pick is quite the contrary. We will know over the next several several days what impact Governor Palin's selection has had in the polls and on particular groups that McCain feels he needs to win.
