More than just eye candy?

I am completely shocked that John McCain chose Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, as his running mate. But the more I think about it, it is absolutely brilliant! John McCain brings to the table years of experience, the elderly vote, the veterans and military vote, among other things. Sarah Palin is young, a former beauty queen, from the North (the way North), and would without a doubt be the most conservative person to enter the oval office. Brilliant! After some quick polling of my female co-workers, many of them loved the idea, despite them hardly being die hard right-wingers. Sarah Palin is 44 years old, has five children, including a toddler with down syndrome. She is married to an oil executive for BP and ran for governor on the theme of we need to drill more and drill now. She is lifelong National Rifle Association Member. Despite McCain’s wealth and power, Palin is from humble roots in small town Idaho. Her nickname is “Sarah Barricuda” because she is ruthless as a candidate. There are more reasons this is a brilliant pick. Can you imagine the outrage from the media and women groups if Obama has negative ads or is too critical of Governor Palin? I think she will do very well with disgruntled Hillary supporters, apathetic females, and hard core, far right conservatives who are leery of McCain’s moderate record as a Senator. She has some issues though. She is involved with some ethics issues right now after firing her sister’s ex-husband for… well… being her ex-husband. Before being Governor, she was the mayor of Waselis, a town with a population under 9,000 people. She has lots of ties to big oil but no foreign policy experience. (Not that it matters, because McCain has plenty to share.) Basically, this was a complete grand slam homerun for John McCain. A brilliant pick which might turn the election in his favor.


1. Did anybody watch Obama’s speech last night? I thought it was fantastic. A lot of the criticism was that he was not specific enough for his plans as President. He definitely answered those questions last night. Unfortunately, a well planned surprise by John McCain has shifted all of the focus to the GOP.

2. I love the names of Palin’s kids: Track, Trig, Willow, Piper, and Bristol. Are you kidding me?

3. I’m happy. Iowa State won their opener yesterday 44 – 17. The march continues.