Republican Veep

So McCain has chosen Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin. I said in an earlier post that McCain needed to pick somebody that nobody knew about, like Pawlenty. Well, McCain did me one better and picked somebody I didn't even know existed! And a pro-life woman (talk about appeasing the Right)! Wow! Without knowing one single thing about Palin, I have to say, this is probably a very smart move for McCain. NOBODY has ever heard of this woman, so there's no baggage. And he might bring back all the conservative women that voted for Bush because of security, but were bolting to Obama because of the mess. Not to mention the Hillary supporters that still want a woman to vote for (I wonder what Joan Chittister would say since she is still steamed about the whole thing)! I think this has got to be the first Republican female VP candidate? So, McCain's making some history too. And young. And I imagine it's going to be a lot tougher for Biden to really go after a woman candidate in the VP debates.

Unless the muckrakers find major dirt on Palin (unlikely I'd think), this seems to be an amazing choice. But it's also putting all the pressure on McCain. Really the criticism is going to be that she's not ready to step into the Presidency. There will be comparisons with Quayle. But if she's articulate, she can easily dispel those comparisons. If she's not, it could turn into a disaster for them.

Update: Palin on the issues:

http://www.ontheissues.org/Sarah_Palin.htm

Looks solidly conservative: pro-life, anti-gay, pro-drilling in Alaska, pro-gun, anti-tax. And no information on a lot of the other issues.

Second Update: Yup, the Quayle comparisons are out. Interestingly, re: the VP debates, many are saying that Biden would simply eat her for lunch. I suppose that's possible. I guess there's still some mis-placed chauvanism in me that says that a guy hitting a girl is bad. But I guess if you're willing to do it, there's no doubt that Biden can politically punch her into a bloody pulpy mess on just about every topic I can think of.

Third Update: This is funny. Apparently, when asked a few months ago whether she would be interested in the VP job, she responded with something like, "are you kidding? what does the VP do??" The muckrakers are starting to dig dirt already. Apparently she has her own Troopergate scandal.