He Picked Who?

Of course anyone near a media outlet of any kind now knows that John McCain has chosen his running mate, Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska. No doubt like nearly everyone else, you also went, "Who?"

My very fist thought on hearing McCain's choice was that he was courting the female vote, especially disaffected Hillary voters (the ridiculous PUMAs.) After the Hillary ads he ran, this was blatantly obvious. It also seems ludicrous to believe that this would work. The Hillary voters who have shown reluctance to support Obama are not doing so merely because Obama is not a woman; it is because Obama is not their woman. They wanted Hillary in the White House, not any random female running for office. Polls are also bearing this out, showing that women are more skeptical of men in Palin.

As I read more about Palin, the second reason for McCain's choice shined through. She is supposed to shore up his support amongst evangelicals. Palin believes intelligent design should be taught in schools and is staunchly pro-life.

The reaction to Palin has been interesting and often amusing to read, running the full gamut of thought. Andrew Sullivan wrote, "McCain has just told us how seriously he takes the war we are in. Not seriously at all." Rod Dreher was giddy over the fact that she home schools her kids. I didn't realize that was a sign of a good VP, but I guess when you're playing the identity politics game it must be. *shrug*

I think this is going to be a disaster for McCain in the end. His blatant pandering is going to turn off a lot of voters and seal his defeat.