In the short term, the pick will create excitement among the kind of grass-roots conservatives who have never been enthusiastic about McCain, and in the media, which will be fascinated by Palin's good looks (matched by those of her dishy husband), intelligence and charm.
Yes, it surely will work well for all the media types "fascinated by Palin's good looks" and also those fascinated by her husband's "dishy" good looks (which will appeal both to females and apparently males of some stripe; note to self - NEVER write about a the "dishy" good looks of a woman's husband). Expect MoDo to make a play, just has to. The vamp-tramp can't help herself.
Must give the Rove election team full credit too for keeping the veep's identity such a guarded secret from the MSM, who were caught absolutely flat-footed and virtually clueless about this choice. Although I don't remember the pundits flopping about like salmon returning upstream to spawn who the gop veep would be. Maybe they only behaved liked crazed loons when covering democrats ... hoping to see a meltdown.
I'm sure many bloggers by now have commented on this Palin comment, which really ought to make the rounds of Leno, Letterman, etc etc (from Politico)
Larry Kudlow of CNBC’s “Kudlow & Co.” asked her about the possibility of becoming McCain's ticket mate.Palin replied: “As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day? I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here for the rest of the U.S., before I can even start addressing that question.”
Clearly someone is going to have to bring Governor Palin up to speed on the VP's duties:
(1) Tell New York Times and Washington Post reporters what to write.
(2) Appear on Sunday morning talk shows and tell the hosts what to think (because they read it in the NYT and WaPo).
(3) Tell the CIA what to tell the President.
(4) Listen to oil, coal and other traditional US energy intersts tell you what the nation's energy policy should be and then ensure that their will be done.
(5) Shoot attorneys you like in the face (as a not-so-subtle warning to other attorneys -- worse could happen to you)
(6) Fire attorneys you used to like if they end up not doing the job you want them to do (which doesn't need to be done -- e.g. prosecuting voter fraud at the polling places) rather than the job you don't want them to do (which does need to be done -- e.g. prosecuting corrupt republicans).
But the more I read (and think) about it, choosing Alaskan Governor Palin offers some potentially significant electoral college advantages - via Digby
So, I wouldn't be too smug about Palin. She's got something about her that the people who know her really like. She has an 85% approval rating up there, which includes quite a few liberals. Her western state appeal is an amalgam of right wing populism and libertarianism, something that shouldn't be discounted among swing voters who might also find her to be an attractive working mom who manages to run the state while taking care of her snowmobile champion husband (Arctic NASCAR) and their five kids.
And she will energize the fundamentalist base with her anti-abortion view and anti-scientific educational positions.
