Oh, my, but the pundits are running in circles. John McCain (remember him?), who has attacked Barack Obama for relying on his superstar status, has chosen Sarah Palin, a former beauty queen, to be his running mate. A quick scan of opinion runs the gamut from "Yay, I can vote for McCain because she's conservative enough" to "this is a hail-mary pass in the wrong direction." Paraphrased, since I didn't take note of sources while skimming.
My initial thoughts, in no particular order. It will be interesting to see how her beauty pageant history plays with feminists. I don't expect environmentalists will be tempted for a moment, given her positions on drilling and polar bears. I noted that one Alaskan blogger refers to her as "Governess." Am I wrong in finding that weird? Her executive experience comes from being on the council, then briefly mayor, of Wasilla, population 8,471, followed by less than 19 months so far as Governor (governess?) of Alaska, population 683,000.
She opposes same-sex marriage, doesn't want polar bears protected, supports teaching Creationism in the schools, and would be a heartbeat (this guy's heartbeat) away from the presidency if elected.
The notion that "attractive and a woman" equals electability is a far cry from the idea that it is a measure of readiness to stand first in line to succeed to the presidency. Her Washington experience is exactly the size of Karl Rove's heart, and her foreign-policy experience, a factor declared critical by conservatives when discussing Obama, is nonexistent.
It's looking more and more as if the next president will have to not only keep Bush's pledge
to capture Bin Laden (remember HIM?), but also repair our disastrous standing with other world powers after his cowboy "diplomacy." I can't see where Palin fits into that need.
Back to the attractive-woman angle, if McCain thinks the women who supported Hillary Clinton so ardently will see Palin as a replacement, he's in for an enormous surprise.
