Sarah Palin

For what it's worth, I think McCain's selection of Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate is a home run. She's from outside the beltway, she's big on ethics reforms, and, get this- she's a woman. A friend asked in an e-mail whether she was chosen because she's a woman and the answer to that is both yes and no. Race and gender certainly play into these things, but just like Obama, Palin isn't there solely because she's a member of a certain class. Like all political decisions, this was a calculated one by the McCain campaign, coming immediately after the Democratic convention, at least in part geared toward wooing unsatisfied women voters. At the same time however, Palin is a solid conservative and is a choice that eases the worries of some on the right who may have feared a McCain-Lieberman ticket.

My personal take on Palin? I don't know much about her, but she's a hell of a better pick than Joe Biden. As I blogged earlier, a selection like Palin will at least make me think about throwing some half-hearted support to McCain.

(Although if any one is curious and hasn't been following the whole election discussion, there's probably a 99% chance that I won't vote for either of the major party candidates. This is my third presidential election coming up and I've yet to cast a ballot for a Democrat or a Republican in a presidential election. In 2000, I could care less whether Bush or Gore won and in 2004 I was hoping Bush would win, mainly because John Kerry was such a God awful candidate. This election is closer because McCain isn't the candidate Bush was and Obama is no where near as awful as Kerry. But we'll see yet whether I want to remain 50-50 neutral or whether I'll send some positive vibes one way or the other.)