A Quayle of a Pick

As the radio crackled with static, the NBC radio affiliate broke in with a news flash. John McCain's pick for VP was about to be announced.

Through the white noise I thought I heard the name Palin.

"Wow," I thought. "He picked Michael Palin."

I couldn't help but think about the Monty Python star singing the "Lumberjack Song" at the Gathering of Doom and Evil next week in Minnesota.

Then I saw clips of the actual announcement of McCain's VP, saw the poofy hair and realized it wasn't Michael Palin. He had picked one of the B52's. Okay, singing "Love Shack" at the convention next week would be a hoot also.

Then I got all the facts. It was Sarah Palin. The governor of Alaska. I guess the Dems have to give up on the Eskimo and Polar Bear vote.

Seriously, I remember hearing Palin's name, but I dismissed it. Remember, I had said that my gut felt that McCain would pick a name out of the blue. I wasn't thinking he'd pick one almost out of the continent.

He barely knows Palin himself. I don't know whether it's just his thing for former beauty pageant contestants or whether started to peruse a list of potential state governors and got too tired by the time he reached Alaska.

Palin is certainly an interesting choice. Obviously, McCain wanted to shake up things a bit. Of course, Walter Mondale felt he needed to shake things up and selected Geraldine Ferraro. How did that work out? Ronald Reagan could have run with Bonzo the chimp and won easily. (He didn't run with a chimp, however, but with the father of a jackass).

Palin is newbie governor who is probably a card caring member of the Pat Buchanan Fan Club. She's ultra conservative, bordering on extreme. Obviously, McCain's hope is that Palin will shore up his base and energize the throng of conservatives - also known as the close-minded religious zealots. It's like he picked a combination of Grizzly Adams and Mrs. Ned Flanders.

To do that, however, he has sacrificed his theme of questioning Obama's readiness. He really can't harp on Obama's lack of experience when as Keith Olbermann stated "Palin makes Obama look like John Adams." That was McCain's best argument against Obama. Actually, it was his only argument.

With Palin, he'll now focus on the message of being reformers and mavericks. It will be their counter claim to Obama's change message. But when their politics are so extreme and conservative, I don't know how maverick they can be to independents or anyone else. As Bob Casey said, they're so aligned with Bush and Cheney, they're not mavericks, they're sidekicks.

She softens the appearance that McCain is a rich old crow that is out of touch with working American's. He still is, but she doesn't seem to be. She eats moose for crying out loud.

I don't see what states Palin helps McCain win - other than Alaska (which McCain was going to win anyway). Certainly, she might drum up support in the conservative blocks, but I think Joe Biden's populist message works better in places like Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Palin, I think, is a bit of a hail Mary pick. McCain needed something out of the norm. As I said before, I thought McCain would want to find something other than the Pawlenty's, Romney's and typical stiff white Grand Old Party bores. Palin is kind of like a third-down-and-very-long play. It might be a play he felt he needed. The polls already have McCain down by seven or eight points and that was before Obama's speech Thursday. His only hope might have been to change the dynamics and bit. And, I suppose, it might work.

But, I doubt it. I think there might be some backlash from some Republicans. Pawlenty and Romney's people are already miffed. Some are calling this the worst pick since Old Man Bush picked Dan Quayle.

I think her lack of experience will be revealed at some point. Joe Biden will have to be careful against her in a debate (he can't appear to bully her) but he should be able to expose her weaknesses. The fact that McCain is 72 and just picked a VP, who admitted hasn't paid much attention to foreign policy, is pretty scary. I think that won't play well.

I don't think Palin will help draw the Hillary Clinton voters. They're not going to jump on the bandwagon of someone that extreme. If anything, her selection might produce blowback. McCain picking a women looks a little like pandering or, worse, degrading, assuming soccer mom's will just up vote for her because she's a woman.

I think the negatives will ultimately outweigh the positives. I see Palin becoming a bit of a laughing stock, a female Dan Quayle from Alaska. I think her lack of experience will be exposed at some point. Somewhere along the line, I see her being a major detriment - that's saying a lot when McCain doesn't even know Czechoslovakia no longer exists or can't tell Sunni from Shiites.

She has a good story and appears to be a tough and promising candidate, but I don't think she's ready for prime time. The media scrutiny she faces in Alaska might pale in comparison to the national press. Notice I said "pale in" get it?

I think that will come into play and ultimately, this pick by McCain will be a failure. Usually, the VP pick doesn't decide elections, just ask Dan Quayle, but I think if Palin is a bust, it could be significant enough in a close race. Voters will ultimately decide that she is not change that they can believe in.

Of course, if she does a killer version of the "Lumberjack Song" at the convention, all bets are off.