The Brilliance of the Palin Pick

Untold numbers of electrons are being burned across the Internet as every form of pundit from the lowliest blogger to the top levels of political commentary try to figure out McCain's choice of Sarah Palin for VP. One thing that has become clear for me after watching the uproar all day Friday is that this pick was not intended to impress the "inside the Beltway" chattering class, but was designed to appeal to real people in real America. And it worked.

Conservatives are excited, and as an added bonus, Obama's Greek Temple speech practically disappeared from the political media. Any hopes they had for an extended glow from that event evaporated the moment Carl Cameron of Fox broke the news about Palin. And according to campaign officials, $3 million has poured into the McCain campaign just since the announcement. People who hadn't given a dime to McCain are excited enough to open their wallets.

Mrs. HolyCoast was not excited about this election at all. Although she disagreed with Hillary on just about everything and wouldn't have voted for her, she felt bad that a woman got so close to the top only to lose so narrowly. She was basically going to pass on the presidential election.

Seeing the Palin introduction in Dayton immediately swung her over to the McCain ticket with an excitement level she usually doesn't express towards politics. Interestingly, she had been okay with Obama until he made the statement a few weeks ago that he "didn't look like any of the other president's on the dollar bills". That really angered her, and now she's got a candidate she really likes in Palin.

She also said "it's surprising to see Republicans so excited about a woman candidate". I told her that it's a mainstream media myth that Republicans are anti-women, and unlike Democrats, Republicans don't generally care for identity politics. We judge our candidates based on what they believe, not on gender or race or whatever subgroup they belong to.

Early this morning before the candidate was known I saw an interview with Charles Krauthammer. Charles suggested that with the polls so close McCain should go with a "safe" pick like Tim Pawlenty or Mitt Romney. I normally agree with Charles, but I disagreed with his opinion on this one. Had Pawlenty or Romney been chosen, America would have gone "ho-hum" and the GOP might have had the first no-bounce convention in history. Nobody would have paid any attention at all, especially with a major hurricane hitting the Gulf Coast.

Another option would have been one of the pro-choice candidates like Tom Ridge, Joe Lieberman or Rudy Giuliani. Had that happened, the convention certainly wouldn't have been boring. It would have been a riot, and not the funny kind.

Ronald Reagan had a way of going past the press and the chattering class and speaking right to the people. John McCain just did the same thing. He ignored all the conventional wisdom and Beltway B.S. and chose somebody who would have wide appeal to conservatives and women, and especially those disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters. The Democrat talking point says that Hillary voters won't be swayed by Palin, but that's nonsense. The pro-Hillary sites I watch are all agog over Palin and are even producing YouTube videos supporting her. They're practically at war with the Democrats.

Some of the most ardent lefties are now trying to make her into the next Dan Quayle. Nice try, but that isn't going to work. She's got too much on the ball to be classified as a ditz (and for the record, Quayle wasn't a ditz either). One site was begging Obama to get Hillary to do a video ad proclaiming her support once again for Obama and urging women to stick with the Democrats. I think they're worried that their guy really blew it when he skipped Hillary in favor of Hairplugs.

I think Palin will have wide appeal among women, and they make up 52% of the electorate. Even women who are pro-abortion will find a lot to respect in a mom of 5 who started out in the PTA and rose to Governor, on her own and without riding her husband's coattails, and had a Down's child even though she knew ahead of time it was going to happen. She was pro-choice in the right way...she chose life.

Of course the argument against her will be the lack of foreign policy or federal experience. Mort Kondracke even tried to argue that Barack Obama has more experience because he's been running for president for two years. Beltway B.S. All that federal and foreign policy experience can be learned. What's more important are the principles and values that drive an individual. People with the right foundation in their lives will make the right decisions on the big issues.

Palin will energize the GOP convention next week, and if she knocks out a good speech on Wednesday and McCain doesn't undo it on Thursday, the GOP should get a strong bounce.

It was a smart move to choose Palin. She appeals to all the right people. Conventional wisdom says no one votes for the Vice President.

Not this time. Many people such as me will be voting specifically for the Vice President.

Best headline: Chick Mate for McCain