Slightly related to my previous post, here are some thoughts from a longtime Republican regarding Palin's nomination that are worth reading:
Authenticity is the one word threat to the Obama-Biden ticket.
There is something going on this weekend which traditional pundits,
traditional consultants and traditional politicians are simply missing.
All of the normal biography-oriented and issue-oriented analysis misses
an emotional gestalt event comparable to when Ronald Reagan in 1980
crystalized his leadership in New Hampshire when he seized control of
the GOP debate.
In one sudden moment Friday, John McCain fundamentally changed
American politics in a manner that transcends issues and details.
The great threat to the Obama-Biden ticket can be captured in one word: authenticity.
There is something unaffected and "unsophisticated" (in the
Columbia, Princeton, Harvard and University of Chicago meanings of the
word) about Governor Palin. She really was point guard of a state
championship basketball team. She really is a competent hunter. She is
a hockey mom. She has one son about to go to Iraq.
She has 13 years in elected office
By any practical standard she has done far more in the real world
with much more spontaneity and practicality than Barack Obama. And
there is something deeply real and courageous about John McCain
ignoring most of his advisers and all of the "insider wisdom" to reach
out to a younger woman whose greatest characteristic is undaunted
courage and a willingness to clean out the corruption in her own party.
-rlh-
