Talking to those Democrats who didn’t get the first flight out of Denver one picks up two conflicting emotions about the Palin pick: relief and fear. They are all happy that McCain has so neutered his attack on Obama’s experience; yes Obama was a state senator just four years ago but the person that John McCain—a 72 year old cancer survivor—has chosen to put a heart beat away from the presidency was the Mayor of a small Alaskan town then. But there is also real concern that John McCain might have finally found a domestic message; that he and Palin will run as reformers who are prepared to fight a broken system. Both McCain and Palin have—unlike the Democratic ticket—a record of taking on the special interests who exercise such a perfidious influence on American political life. There is a potent contrast between Palin who took on the corrupt Alaskan political establishment and Obama who worked with the Chicago machine when it suited him.
McCain has taken an almighty risk in picking Palin: one gaffe on national security from her could sink the ticket. But if, and this is a big if, Palin acquits herself well over the next 61 days then the pick could turn out to be political genius. Palin is someone who both excites the base (just check out National Review’s blog) and gets moderates, independents and disaffected Democrats to take a second look at the ticket. If picking Palin is a sign that McCain intends to run as a radical reformer between now and November 4th then it is encouraging. But those whose prime concern is national security would be reassured if they learned more, or even something, about what Palin thinks about the foreign policy challenges of our time.
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