Palin

Wow. Who saw this one coming? I still am a bit shocked that McCain picked Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, as his VP choice. I mean, wow. I was thinking Romney, maybe Lieberman if he wanted to shake things up.

I'll put it right on the table. I think this was a very dangerous pick for McCain. Why?

1.) The argument could certainly be made that she doesn't have the experience to be VP. She has been governor for 2 years, and before that she was the mayor of a town of less than 10,000 people. Not exactly Presidential chops there.

2.) It is also clear that McCain was really trying to solidify the social conservative base. They have never been thrilled with McCain. So, picking someone like Palin, who is pro-life, religious, and in favor of teaching creationism with evolution does a lot to help lure those voters in. However, I'm not sure I'm sold on her pulling in Hillary voters. There's a good column on that here . However, will the bubble burst know that we know her 17 year old daughter is pregnant? I don't see that sitting well with the values voters.

Yet, the choice could also be brilliant. She is an outsider. People loathe Washington D.C. right now. Bush is hovering around 30% approval. Congress, believe it or not, gets about half that. Not being a Washington politician could be an asset. Palin could also point out how she stood up to the ever so corrupt Ted Stevens. Second, the conservatives love her. McCain is getting a lot of money and excitement out of her. Could be just what he needs to get back some excitement into his campaign.