McCain Selects Palin

John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate was indeed a bold one. While I have noted many differences with Senator McCain's political philosophy on these pages, he may have the best instincts and judgment of anyone in the country. John McCain has consistently demonstrated his phenomenal gift of foresight from his vote against Reagan's Beirut plan as a freshman congressman to his recent advocacy for the surge in Iraq and Georgia's NATO membership.

The Pros...
Sarah Palin got involved in public service to take on the status quo (high taxes and corruption), not out of political ambition. Like Sen. Obama she is an unproven, yet historical candidate with TV charisma and good looks.

The Alaska Republicans may be the GOP's closest comparison to the Chicago Democratic machine. Sen. Obama won favor of the power players of his machine by playing by their rules, voting in lock-step with their issues, going to their church, and counting them as mentors. In contrast, Sarah Palin challenged and defeated the incumbent governor of her own party and then called for an investigation of Alaska's Republican Party Chairman.

Sarah Palin comes from small town America. She is an evangelical with a solid pro-life record, an NRA member who will appeal to Second Amendment defenders, and an energy expert who can explain the untapped potential of domestic oil and natural gas supplies. She is with the majority of Americans on all of these issues.

The Cons...
Is she as ready as Mitt Romney to be POTUSA? Will her advice to McCain be as solid? Maybe not, but do we really think that a man with McCain's instincts was going to listen to Romney much anyway? Sarah Palin still has to clear significant hurdles - there will be obscure world leaders and conflicts that will be well outside of her expertise. This ultimately doomed the Mike Huckabee campaign, but I wonder if running with John McCain can allow her to tap into the energy that Huckabee generated without the voter anxiety on foreign affairs. I'll await Jonathan's insight on this one.

A historical DNC...
Obama had a successful convention. Congratulations to the Land of Lincolner on his historic achivement. The McCain Camp has been very savvy in slowing the Dems' momentum this summer. However, the big show in Denver will begin to revitalize leftist voters.

Now that's a housing problem...
The London Times has reported that Iraqi billionaire Nadhmi Auchi loaned $3.5 million to convicted felon Tony Rezko three weeks ahead of Obama's estate purchase in 2005. Auchi's U.S. visa was revoked due to his involvement in the Oil for Food scandal, yet two Illinois officials had the State Dept restore the visa. Will the mainstream media press for full disclosure from the Obama campaign and the state dept? Obama has still not provided the settlement statement to show the flow of funds from this transaction. The 529s must be chomping at the bit as the Obama campaign is all about their candidate's character and good judgment.