Meet Sarah Palin. A 44-year-old mother of five. A gun-toting, pro-life, small-government Republican governor of the state second-farthest from Washington D.C. An ex-beauty queen and avid fisherwoman. Wife of a half-Eskimo dogsledding champion. A woman who undertook ethics reform (and who may, possibly, be a bit ethically challenged herself).

There’s a lot of talk right now on whether this is a good or bad move on McCain’s part. Personally, I think it’s a mixed bag.

Pros: She could help grab a piece of the Hillary vote, though her voting record on so-called “women’s rights” (mainly abortion, but also “equal pay) isn’t a strong suit. She’s young and fresh, possibly taking the edge off McCain’s self-proclaimed “oldness”. She’s seen by some (including herself) as a reformer who isn’t afraid to fight the big dogs. Most importantly, in my view, she’s nearly invincible in the vice presidential debate (but really, who votes on the basis of that?). I mean, do you recall how badly Obama came off when he attempted to rebuff Hillary on national TV? Well, Palin’s a lot more “likable enough” than Hillary, and an old fart like Biden had best watch his step.

Cons: She’s inexperienced — which takes away the central crux of McCain’s argument against Obama, which is pretty much the central crux of McCain’s campaign. She’s inexperienced — two years ago, she was mayor of a town of 9,000… that’s smaller than Shepherdsville, and by God I wouldn’t want my hometown’s mayor anywhere near the red phone. She’s inexperienced — she’s never been under national scrutiny, and two months isn’t ample time to work out the kinks.

Oh, and then there’s the fact that her relatively young record contains a number of things that directly clash with McCain and/or “the base”. She favors drilling in ANWAR (he opposes); she signed gay partner medical benefits into law in Alaska; she was one of the pitchfork carriers for Pat Buchanan’s 1996 bid.

That last is a plus in my book, but most GOPers have no use for the guy past his shilling for McCain on MSNBC, plus he’s widely held to be anti-Semetic, though there’s no basis for that. Buchanan himself today said this:

I think this is the biggest political gamble, just about, in all of American history.

Ultimately, the thing just doesn’t jibe. Politically, I guess, it makes as much sense as Romney. But does McCain really think it’s going to reinforce his constant assertion that he’s “ready to be commander-in-chief” that he — the oldest presidential candidate in history — is willing to put a first-term governor with no foreign policy purview a heart attack away from the Oval Office? You have got to be kidding.

Oh, and did I mention he’s a genuine war hero and that we honor his service?

P.S.: I found this from conservative stalwart David Frum AFTER I wrote the above.

If it were your decision, and you were putting your country first, would you put an untested small-town mayor a heartbeat away from the presidency?

Tags: Barack Obama, John McCain, Pat Buchanan, Sarah Palin

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