Quick hits on Palin

Some thoughts on Palin as the VP choice of OCGM:

A. Only been in office for barely 2 years.

B. While it could be very similar to black people voting for Obama simply because he’s black, women COULD be pushed to vote for her simply because she’s a woman. However, I doubt that due to the blatant pandering by the OCGM here. Plus, the women who supported Hillary (PUMAs) will not be supporting this woman. Hillary struggled for her advancement, this lady could be seen as getting a free pass, of sorts. Moreover, Hillary is 20 years older and these women identify more with her age-range and her plight.

C. She will only have to survive a debate against the much more experienced Biden (similar to what Dubya did when he faced Gore…he survived). Moreover, Biden will have to watch his flip mouth (and avoid the infamous Rick Lazio moment of 2000) because if he attacks her flippantly, that will infuriate women who may not even have supported her before the debate, to such and extent that they could move over to support her because she is a woman. It also hurts Obama in some sense…he never really was able to effectively attack Hillary. She lost because she gambled wrong, Obama didn’t beat her in a debate…and he never really effectively attacked her…so he hasn’t proved to be able to attack a woman effectively.

D. It could hurt OCGM that this looks purely political. OCGM clearly didn’t really vet her because they met once during the process, and only twice total. Moreover, she could hurt him with her very socially liberal policies…she’s very much like a libertarian. Also, it could hurt if Obama manages to frame the issue that if OCGM dies in office, then this lady with no foreign policy experience will be in charge and who will be whispering in her ear concerning the war (I smell another potential Neo-Con take-over of a person who knows nothing about the situation, which Palin has admitted she hasn’t thought about).

I still feared Ridge more. I think this will help OCGM's "maverick" image, but it has effectively made age an issue and inexperience a non-issue for Obama.