Thanks for those debate videos, jsanders.
Like any pick, Sarah Palin, brings her pros and cons.
First and foremost, I suspect McCain is hoping Palin will work as a wedge between Obama and the Hillary/woman vote.
She's also an outsider, with a fresh,
attractive face ... and she seems very amicable. That alone is going to pick up votes.
As an Alaskan politician one can only guess that she will have a pretty good grasp of the oil industry ... that will help tremendously with the drilling issue.
Mother of five with a down syndrome child and a solid pro-lifer if he had some unsure voters about him on that issue, this pick should eliminate their apprehensions.
And she solidifies Alaska for McCain.
Now ...
Like it or not, McCain supporters but this pick takes a lot of wind out of the "no experience" sail the McCain campaign has been flying ... especially with McCain's age and health being a legit issue.
Yeah, she has executive experience ... less than two years as Governor of the least (correct me if I'm wrong) populous state in the Union ... and she took it away from a guy who at the time was the second least popular Governor in the Union.
This also leaves McCain open to attacks that he is pandering to the woman vote and trying to catalyze a "Hillary Effect."
Nobody knows how she is going to handle the national stage. Alaska is a small isolated community. Taking down a hugely unpopular governor there is a completely different game than meeting Joe Biden in a one on one debate on national and global issues. Granted Biden will have to change his approach in the debate as he can't be seen as picking on the girl but he is still a big favorite to convincingly win the debate (and yes, I watched the round table debates).
But she is very easy on the eyes and as long as she doesn't do horrible the public will not be able to help themselves from liking her.
She comes with a gift wrapped scandal but I suspect that the GOP already has a plan to deal with it otherwise she wouldn't have been picked.
She is going to have to watch her mouth, too, and answers like this:
McCain praises VP choice Palin's 'tenacity' - John McCain News - MSNBC.com