McCain-Palin?

Hot Air links to several sources saying the Alaskan governor will be McCain's running-mate.

If this is true, that means each party's ticket will have a nominee from one of the "freak states". (Obama, of course, was born in Hawaii.) Could Palin pick up some of Hillary's supporters? Maybe just enough to make the difference.

Damian P.

Update: MSNBC says it's Palin:

Palin, 44, was elected Alaska's first woman governor in 2006. The state’s voters had grown weary of career politician Gov. Frank Murkowski, whom she defeated in the GOP primary.

“I've been blessed with the right timing here,” Palin said before the election. “There's no doubt that Alaskans right now are dealing in an atmosphere of distrust of government and industry.”

Palin's selection was a stunning surprise, as McCain passed over many other better-known prospects, some of whom had been the subject of intense speculation for weeks or months.

She is a generation younger than Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, who is Barack Obama's running mate on the Democratic ticket.

She is three years Obama's junior, as well, and McCain has made much in recent weeks of Obama's relative lack of experience in foreign policy and defense matters.

[...]

But Palin’s seemingly bright future was clouded in late July when the state legislature voted to hire an independent investigator to find out whether she tried to have a state official fire her ex-brother-in-law from his job as a state trooper.

The selection of a female running-mate could steal some thunder from Obama's historic candidacy, and possibly pick up some disgruntled Clinton supporters. But Palin comes with some potential baggage, too: look for the Democrats to attack her for being a tool of Big Oil(TM), and for having even less political experience than Obama. ("McCain is 71, and this youngster would be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. We're just sayin' is all.")

Update II: it's official. Interestingly, three of the four people on the major-party tickets - McCain, Biden and Palin - have children in the Armed Forces. (Obama's children are far too young to serve.)

Posted by damian at August 29, 2008 11:21 AM