I guess there will be folks among the legions at memeorandum who think this is a daring and bold and mavericky pick (mostly in the media, I would wager), but I just guess I am not one of them. It seems so transparently cynical, so deeply poll-driven and focus-grouped, and so manifestly just a bone to the wingnut pro-life base and the 8 PUMA holdouts, that I really can’t treat this pick seriously.
Really, the only way I think this helps the ticket is that the McCain campaign can now feign outrage over alleged sexist remarks at the same time they are on the fainting couches decrying some mythical slight to McCain’s honor.
This is just a deeply disturbing and deeply bizarre choice (by comparison, this would be the equivalent of Obama choosing a less qualified Kaine), particularly since there is a chance McCain could win and he is old as dirt. Granted, the chance he wins is much, much smaller after his choice today.