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Cindy Claveau · 09-04-2008, 07:39 PM

I found this article pretty thought-provoking. For all those who think that Palin was a bad pick, it may not be so bad after all from a politics viewpoint - and that's all that matters until the race is over.

How Palin changed the race - John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei - Politico.com

Excerpts:

Quote:

Until Wednesday night, many political professionals were whispering that there was a good chance that in picking Sarah Palin as his running mate John McCain had lost the election.

And some of them thought that with his last-minute, seemingly impulsive selection of a little-known and little-experienced governor he had lost his mind.

It’s as true on Thursday afternoon as it was on Wednesday that Palin is a risky pick. The public — and no doubt the McCain campaign as well — still doesn’t know what it doesn’t know about Palin, whose personal and public record in Alaska is still being raked by reporters and opposition researchers.

But in the space of one 36-minute speech by Palin, McCain proved that his choice was not a lapse into temporary (or even permanent) insanity. The speech’s political significance goes far beyond the fact that Palin showed herself capable of delivering a spirited reading of words that other people wrote.

Just as Barack Obama’s 2004 convention speech transformed his career, Palin’s speech has the potential to transform the dynamic of this race — in some ways that are obvious and some not

Quote:

Before Wednesday night, McCain was in big trouble when it comes to mobilizing conservative faithful. Now, Palin can help the party organize and turn out the same base of Christian evangelicals, Second Amendment supporters and abortion-rights opponents that proved instrumental to the back-to-back George W. Bush victories.

Before Wednesday night, McCain had little room for error with the right. They measured every word and made him pay for straying too far on the issues they care most about. Now, McCain can stretch and twist like a yoga instructor.

Quote:

And many voters in these big audiences likely will swoon for a telegenic hockey mom who eats moose she kills herself. You can’t make this stuff up. Her story is made for TV, glossy mags and the big screen.

A mother of five with a pregnant daughter. A ruggedly handsome husband who drills oil and races snowmobiles. She hunts. She fishes. She runs.

She is now a curiosity in a good way. That means big crowds at events and attention from people who otherwise might have ignored a more traditional ticket of two, old, rich, white Republican men who promise to kill terrorists and cut taxes.

Quote:

None of this proves she understands the complexities of world threats or can endure the stress of office. But she at least gets more time to make her case. Before Wednesday night, she was only one or two news cycles away from irretrievably losing control of her public image.

Quote:

It remains to be seen how effective she can be in more improvisational settings. Biden has weathered national campaigns and controversies; she has not. Biden has traveled the world, mixed it up with tough foreign leaders and mastered the complexities of global threats; she has not. Biden has studied virtually every national issue and debated them; she has not.

But she has shown a willingness and talent for tough talk. And it will be harder than usual for Democrats to attack back. Republicans will charge sexism at every turn. They will call women to her side to amplify their case. They will shame the media. Many of these complaints will be unfair — but some of it will probably be effective.

I'll add this thought - when Palin and Biden debate, Biden needs to be careful. He needs to completely destroy her or else there's going to be the perception that she "won" by not losing -- and yet if he's too brutal and merciless it will backfire on him. America will side with the hockey mom before they side with the big bully professional politician.

Quote:

Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader, told us this week that his wife, who is even more conservative than he is, doesn’t think much of McCain. But she loves Palin, perhaps enough to get her to now back the GOP ticket. He said he was astonished how Palin has woken “the sleeping giant: Republican women.”