This was the McCain pick that scared me the most.

[Drunken Irishman]

In my opinion, the only pick that gives McCain a real chance here.

Get ready for a tight one, folks. Palin is going to bring something to this ticket that will excite many voters...something Romney and Pawlenty would never be able to do.

[Franks Wild Years]

1. Hillary will destroy her.

And even without that key aspect, she brings 18 months and a beauty pageant.

"Commander-in-chief" ?

Fuck off!

[leftynyc]

8. That's my thought as well

If he thinks he's going to pick up HIllary voters while Hillary is ripping the bark off her, they've badly miscalculated. We wont even go into what Biden is going to do to her.

[Franks Wild Years]

21. Seriously. Hillary's burning desire to.,..

..be the first female President or at least a forebearer to a *credible* *strong* female in the White House isn't something she wants tossed away on a tawdry piece of opportunism. She doesn't want that bone tossed to someone who would be the most unqualified person to run as #2 on a ticket in the history of global politics.

[leftynyc]

30. Exactly

People went after Hillary's ambition pretty hard. How to explain going back to work 3 days after giving birth to a Down Syndrome baby?

[Alter Ego]

34. I hope Obama can use Hillary to her full capacity for this one.

[Hugabear]

2. What, masturbation material for College Rethugs?

I think most people will see this for the pathetic shallow attempt to sway women that it is.

[Drunken Irishman]

4. You think, but then again, I thought Americans would see through John McCain.

[Hugabear]

9. Just wait until America gets their first REAL look at her

Sure, it's easy to be taken in by her. She is attractive.

But once you get past that, what is there? How well does she hold up under intense pressure? I can't wait for Biden to tear her apart in a debate.

[melody]

12. Obama is going to slaughter him -- obviously we have n/t

[NewJeffCT]

13. and, since I joined DU five years ago

It's been almost a daily occurrence where people have said that THIS will be the straw the broke the camel's back regarding Bush and people seeing through him.

Still hasn't quite happened yet - because he probably should be polling at 8-10% instead of 28-30%.

[TornadoTN]

16. Agreed - I thought they would see through Bush twice.

I agree that Palin could mean trouble for several reasons, but she also brings some inherent weaknesses to the ticket that could go a long way to help us win this thing.

[NewJeffCT]

5. Will the media call McCain on the pick?

saying it's a shallow attempt to sway a few Hillary voters?

[TornadoTN]

18. Of course not - she'll be the media's darling

And characterizing it as a "shallow attempt to sway Hillary voters" will be met with scorn and ridicule. How dare we call it for what it is?

[Pab Sungenis]

35. McCain/McMilf. What a ticket.

[NJmaverick]

3. What McCain did was show the Country

he really doesn't think expierence counts. That defeats his ONLY effective argument against Obama

[blackdot]

6. Scared you?

Imagine being a republican right now. It could be the end of the world for them. It would mean they have to vote for either a black guy, a woman, or 3rd party.

[melody]

7. No, she won't

The only woman who would vote for McCain because of that, would vote for him anyway.

Besides, we nearly had a female nominee for President ... their measly Vice President pick won't mean much.
And there are men (and women) who'd never vote for a female on the ticket.

[KingFlorez]

10. I don't think so

Can you imagine the VP debate? Joseph Biden is going to completely destroy her, it will be such an embarrassment for the GOP. Besides that, no one knows who she is.

[maximusveritas]

11. You must be drunk

because Palin brings nothing other an insult to the millions of Hillary Clinton voters and questions about ethics violations.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

14. A female VP candidate is not actually that"historic"

in the same sense as an African-American POTUS candidate (although I don't expect that most people might not remember 1984 when Mondale picked Geraldine Ferarro for all the good it did him)

[Dawgs]

15. Bullshit. And you're smarter than this.

People do not vote for the VP. The worst thing that could come from this pick is Obama will lose a state he thought he could have won. The good news is Alaska is not needed.

[Drunken Irishman]

19. I think people don't get what I said.

I never said they would go in droves toward McCain. However, this at least gives them SOME energy...the other picks did not. That is where the election will be tight.

[rasputin1952]

32. Actually, in McCain's case, a very close look at the VP is

necessary. Many people do not think he will survive 4 more years. Age and medical history are factors in this election, and McCain is not looking, (or sounding), all that well these days.

The R's I know here in Nebraska seriously think McCain is a little too old for this. When you add the rigors of a hotly contested election, one that appears to be close, (I don't think it's close, but people DO follow polls), age and health have to be part of the equation.

Personnally, I hope McCain doesn't get seriously ill or die, and I certainly don't want him to be president if/when something like that happens.

[billyoc]

17. She's bringing something new, alright. A fucking ankle bracelet and a probation officer.

That scandalous ho is going nowhere.

[tinrobot]

20. Only two years in office and she's already embroiled in scandal.

That seriously undercuts McCain's ability to attack Obama's experience and use Rezco as a weapon.

[earthside]

22. No Way.

John Sidney McCane III is 72 years old today and he has set the standard for election as 'experience'.

This lady has been governor of Alaska for one year and about six months. Before that she was on the city council and mayor of some little town.

She is under investigation for a political pressure grudge firing of a state employee. She favors the wholesale slaughter of wolves in Alaska.

Experience?

Palin is not ready to be President if McSame has a stroke the day after he is sworn-in (god forbid).

It is also obvious that McSame thinks that if he picks a woman all the Hillary voters will flock to his campaign -- just proof that he is way, way, way out of touch.

McSame doesn't have any good veep picks -- and this would actually be one of the worst.

[Cosmocat]

29. IF it was her, it was a panic pick ...

I hate to say Charles Krauthammer is right, but he was on this morning and said McCain should make a down the middle pick, and he was right. People here might not like to hear it, but the gap in this race long ago closed to being CLOSE.

Yeah, Palin might be a magic bullet, but the greater odds is that she does more harm than good.

I can name about a dozen reasons why she is a problemic pick off the top of my head, starting with some of the points you noted. Can't name any outside of the HOPE that she attracts some lingering woman votes.

[weezie1317]

23. If it's her, we HAVE to take her SERIOUSLY!!! Don't laugh her off. Beat her!

[NYC Liberal]

24. Oh come ON! For one thing, she's under active investigation by the legislature!

Number 2, we can throw all of McCain's quotes about "experience" back in his face.

Number 3, the right-wing base who won't vote for a woman.

[Virginia Dare]

25. I don't think anybody outside Alaska has any fucking idea who she is..

most of us here on DU don't even know who she is. They don't have much time to introduce her and define her as somebody who is ready to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency.

From what I've learned about her here this morning she is staunchly pro-life, and she is a shill for big oil. I don't think either one of those things is going to bring in large numbers of Independents, female or otherwise.

[LynneSin]

26. We know Hillary Clinton, we have heard Hillary Clinton and guess what....

Palin is NO Hillary Clinton.

[TheZug]

27. Enough with the hand-wringing. Jesus.

[OmahaBlueDog]

28. Palin will fire up the fundies and close the enthusiasm gap

So far, we've been fired up and they've been luke warm, at best, on McSame. This pick will electrify the megachurches.

She will bring the abortion issue to the forefront, and will attack Obama and , more importantly, Biden ruthlessly on that point.

And guys, you don't want to hear this, but it needs saying -- their ad <<In 1981, Republicans brought real change with making Sandra Day O'Conner the first Supreme Court justice. Today, John McCain brings change -- not by running with an insider, but with a hunter, a wife, a mother, and a governor who represent the next generation of American politics. >>

It's a very good pick (from their perspective) and we need to see its danger and take it seriously. Obama is going to need a better answer on abortion questions than "that's above my pay grade."

[krabigirl]

37. Well, that will backfire, since most independents are NOT anti-choice.

[yardwork]

31. I don't think so.

[npincus]

33. You've GOT to be kidding. Think women are THAT stupid?

[Drunken Irishman]

36. It isn't about women.

It's about their base. Their base which up until now has not liked McCain.

They will like him now.