• McCAIN’S RENEWAL: SARAH PALIN

The Democratic convention’s star-studded crowning of Obama at the elaborate altar in Denver provided America with another sampling from a polished orator, presenting no surprises. Before CNN and MSNBC had time to recover from their swooning, McCain sent a long hard throw to the plate in the form of Gov. Sarah Palin. Palin’s first address on the world stage was surprisingly effective, and her delivery resonated with a genuine energy that both McCain and Obama should envy. Her address also towered over Biden’s uncomfortable delivery of words sounding too much like someone else’s voice.

For some reason when Palin says “challenge the status quo to serve the common good,” you get the sense that she actually means it. The Democratic leadership has already decried Palin’s lack of experience with the insult, “John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.” That is probably not the best place to begin the attack. Of the foursome lined up for the run to the White House, Palin is the only one who can claim any Chief Executive experience. In her case it is of both a company and a State. Having enriched the Alaska coffers after taking on the oil companies provides her some coin with middle America as it struggles with escalating oil prices and cost of living. Palin took on both Democrats and Republicans with ethics legislation against corruption. Her reputation as a reformer fighting cronyism almost makes her an unlikely new member of the Republican Party leadership given its Congressional track record of the past decade.

While Obama, the new countenance of the Democratic Party, chose a Washington insider as his running mate, McCain’s pick of Palin serves up a surprising potential new face for the Republicans. It is a maverick decision, and evidently not one expected by the Republican guard and financial backers. McCain’s new V.P. running mate is an invitation to some of the women who supported Hillary Clinton but whose patronage was shaken when she was sidestepped for V.P. by Obama. Her anti-abortion stance will make such attraction difficult.

This unexpected pick of Palin presents some insight into McCain’s decision making, and changes the national political landscape. In one move, McCain adds distance between himself and the Bush/Cheney administration, and puts some substance on his version of change. The politically unbalanced media onslaught has already started against Palin, nevertheless this decision by McCain will stimulate new dialogue on the road to the Oval Office, and will certainly impose fresh perspectives from and on the Republican Party front. Her presence will invigorate the McCain campaign with new energy, while at the same time reminding Democrats that their new leader ignored almost half of them by not selecting Hillary Clinton as his own V.P.

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