Five Reasons Not to Sweat Sarah Palin

[K-Check]

Okay, so McCain has finally picked a running mate and it's - gasp! - a woman! While the early reaction from the left seems to be either the standard hand-wringing worrying or personal attacks which are, quite frankly and especially in light of the Democratic candidate, beneath us, I thought I'd put together a list of a few common sense reasons not to worry about Sarah Palin.

1. Say goodbye to the "experience" argument, Republicans. For those few people for whom Obama (and history) haven't already killed that argument, the Democrats now have the more experienced ticket, with a combined (unofficially, by my count) 39 years of experience in federal governance (35 for Biden, 4 for Obama) versus (according to Wikipedia) 26 years (McCain).

2. It's deja vu, all over again. So the Republicans have a promising young governor from a red state, you say? What's that? This governor is strongly pro-life, loves hiking and the great outdoors, and is a card-carrying, gun-totin' member of the NRA? Where have I heard this storyline before? Oh, that's right, the last governor you trotted out, back in 2000. I bet Palin would characterize herself as a compassionate conservative, too, one who hates nation-building. And I bet Americans would love to have a beer with her. Of course, the last one has an approval rating currently of 29%. And you know what he would say about this: "Fool me once..."

It won't be long before people start seeing the similarities, especially if the Democratic leadership points them out.

3. Conservatives love women. Well, they love to cheat on their wives with them, right John? But when it comes to women's rights, the Republicans tend to lag behind. Women, in the conservative playbook, can't be trusted to do what's right with their own bodies, let alone run the country. So how many conservatives are going to want one of these young, overly-emotional creatures one heartbeat away from the presidency? Particularly when that heartbeat is in the 73 year old body of a cancer survivor? I've gotta think that even though the pick of Palin might raise some Independent and Democratic eyebrows, it's not playing well in the good ol' boy network. The base can't be too pleased.

Besides that, her strong pro-life stance is going to cancel out a lot of the votes she might otherwise have gotten from women, particularly sympathetic independents and that fraction of still embittered Hillary supporters (who are no doubt a principle target of this move). A politician telling you what to do with your body is just that, no matter if that politician is a man or a woman.

4. Ethics Shmethics. One of her strongest points - and what got her elected in Alaska - is her eagerness to root out corrupt politicians. But sooner or later, someone is going to ask if her administration will investigate and prosecute crimes which have taken place in the current administration. So she'll either have to say yes, in which case she'll lose a lot of the folks who voted for Bush, since they don't want to see him prosecuted and jailed for war crimes. Or she'll have to say no, in which case she's a hypocritical flip-flopper who only cares about corruption when it's politically convenient.

And even if she did say yes, I doubt that she'd convince people that she could investigate with any more vigor than an Obama-Biden administration. And if the debate turns toward the issue of prosecuting the Republican architects of the past eight years, I'd have to think things are going well...

Besides that, the Republican machine has made a sad habit out of destroying people once admired for their ethical strength and leadership. Just ask Colin Powell or Tony Blair.

5. No electoral votes. Alaska's three electoral votes were already a pretty solid red. This selection could have stung more if McCain had found someone in a swing-state -- say Ohio or Pennsylvania.

So everyone take a breath and relax. Enjoy the holiday weekend. Sarah Palin is a good pick, and she seems like a good person, but good people don't last long in the Republican party. Heck, even John McCain used to oppose Bush's tax cuts for the rich and torturing people, before he started running for President...

Have a great weekend!