The LuLac Edition #555, August 29th, 2008

PHOTO INDEX: ALASKA GOVERNOR SARAH PALIN.

PALIN PICKED!!!!

The McCain campaign today picked Sarah Palin as the Vice Presidential nominee for the GOP. On WYOU TV Monday night, I said that the non pick of Hillary Clinton by Barack Obama would give McCain license to pick a woman. I said Carly Fiorini. Half right. Sue Henry today “no one saw this coming”. Someone actually did. One guy who has been saying it would be Palin all along was former Congressional candidate Joe Leonardi. The guy has been sending me photos of her every month knowing how much I like to put formative women on my screen saver. Leonardi told me today, “This will change the entire dynamic of the election. It will give the republican ticket the only pairing with any executive branch experience.It gives the republican ticket a candidate who went after corruption in her own party... it will help blunt any talk of the Keating scandal.It gives the republicans a candidate who stood up to big oil in Alaska. Her standing up to big oil is akin to someone standing up to the coal barons in the Wyo. Valley at the turn of the century.She has strong conservative values both socially and economically.” Well put.
This is an interesting but not completely surprising pick. The GOP has to attract more of the women that still might be smarting from the rejection of Senator Clinton. This campaign had to do something innovative and using gender was a plus. They did this with the pick and without the baggage. There will be no debate on where the ticket stands on pro life. Had McCain picked Tom Ridge, that would not be the case. Not having selected Joe Lieberman, there will be no revolt among the diehard Republicans. Palin’s credentials as a conservative can only help McCain with this shaky constituency that has not completely trusted him. If the campaign had picked Romney, there would be sound bites of Romney and McCain sniping at each other. As far as the experience factor, the McCain people seem to have ceded that argument to the Obama camp. In terms of foreign affairs and being an 18 month first time office holder, forty years ago the GOP picked a Vice President with exactly the same resume. His name was Spiro Agnew and his conservative persona helped Nixon in the South. Four decades later, the Agnew comparison is strong, she ran a little town as Mayor, Agnew was a County Executive. Both served the same amount of time as Governor. Now inside the party, the reaction of the GOP women has to be the same as the men who lost out to Agnew 40 years ago. The argument whether there were more qualified GOP women out there will be made but buried in the convention for the sake of party unity. On the negative side, this pick cannot be a repeat of the Geri Ferraro pick in 1984 with any hidden baggage regarding investigations or finances.
Palin’s pick will make the Obama/Biden campaign walk a fine line in making sure they don’t antagonize any of the disappointed Clinton backers into supporting Palin. Now more than ever it seems, Senator Clinton will need to be in the campaign mix for the '08 Democratic team. One more thing, the Dems should trumpet the experience factor of Joe Biden since McCain turns 72 today. In an odd way, the experience factor argument has been blunted with both picks. Obama, less experience, Biden, more experience. McCain, more experience, Palin, less experience. This is a Jerry Seinfeld situation: the experience issue seems to even out.
The pick of Palin also ensures that whatever team wins in November, history, either at the top or bottom of the ticket will be made.
Obama/Biden, McCain/Palin…..as they say in horse racing…..
“and they’re off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”