Sarah Palin, VP Nominee?

Sarah Palin, VP Nominee?

There's a lot of talk this morning about McCain picking Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) as his vice president. The Wikipedia article about her has a lot to like. (This assumes, of course, that it is accurate.) She's a hunter, life member of NRA--and was born in Idaho, and graduated from the University of Idaho. She took on the corrupt Republican Party leadership of Alaska (and there seems to be no shortage of that) and knocked them out of the governor's office. This is such a startling and wonderful thing that it tends to make me very supportive.

She's pro-life, and opposed to same-sex marriage. I can't quite tell from the article if she recognized that she was legally obligated by an Alaska Supreme Court decision to grant benefits to same-sex state employees, or if she thought that it was a good idea.

I am somewhat concerned about her relative lack of experience in government. She has a bit more than Obamessiah, but less than I would prefer--and none in foreign policy areas. Of course, anyone who criticizes her relative lack of experience is in no position to support Obamessiah!

The cynic in me thinks that McCain picked her (if he picked her) because she had five things going for her:

1. A woman. Lots of upset Clinton supporters who aren't thrilled about Obamessiah for other reasons will now have a woman to support.

2. Clean government. The Democrats are at least as dirty as the Republicans on this, and Obamessiah, with his involvement with Rezko, is especially so. There's a lot of people who may find the contrast attractive.

3. A lot of social conservatives have not been happy with McCain. Picking a pro-choice VP like Lieberman would have been bad. Picking a strongly pro-life VP will create some grudging support for McCain.

4. An NRA life member. Yet another reason for gun owners who might be wavering to vote for McCain.

5. No one should vote for a candidate because of their looks--but they do. Obamessiah looks like he stepped off the pages of GQ, and that is certainly something that helps him. And Sarah Palin was first runner-up for Miss Alaska 1984--and let us just say that she is still very attractive.