McCain Picks Sarah Palin

It was a big surprise to see John McCain pick Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, to be his running mate against Obama & Biden. I saw her a couple months ago on the Glenn Beck program, and I was very impressed by her. Her appearance is embedded below. In a lot of ways, Palin makes a lot of sense for McCain and the Republican party.

First off, she is a true conservative. Most conservatives view McCain with a lot of skepticism. They view him as a moderate, and if anything, maybe even a little left of center. I heard Glenn Beck describe him as being closer to the Democrats that his grandparents would have voted for, and the Democrats of today are just too far to the left. With the Dems having two leftists on their ticket, and the Republicans having a centrist and a true conservative on their ticket, McCain/Palin may appeal more to the moderates and independents.

Second, Palin is an Evangelical Christian and will appeal to that segment that has been so important to the Republicans in recent elections. She stands for many of the issues that the Christian right believe are vital to the future of this country. Many thought that Mitt Romney would be the logical choice to run with McCain, but the evangelicals might have been turned off by his Mormonism. The only potential drawback with Palin is the possibility of chauvinistic attitudes with that segment of the population.

Third, Palin has a reputation of being a maverick and a reformer, regardless of party ties and personal consequences. When I voted for McCain in the Republican primaries eight years ago, that was the part of him that appealed to me above George W. Bush. That has been sorely missing from the McCain of 2008. Perhaps the selection of Palin is a sign of him getting back to his roots.

The Democrats will point to her lack of experience. They will say that you can not use that as a reason to not vote for Obama, and then pick her as a Vice-Presidential candidate. With John McCain's age, I can somewhat see that, but I would rather have an inexperienced #2 than an inexperienced #1 on the ticket.