McCain Taps Sarah Palin for VP

Updated Repeatedly

I'm having too much fun reading and posting your reactions to McCain's 'checkmate' move. Both sides just keep them coming. I wouldn't have done anything less for Joe Biden or Obama's other running mate. Enjoy!

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin with a Salmon

From the Wall Street Journal: "Sen. John McCain picked first-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate Friday, adding a little-known but reform-minded woman to his ticket.

The move is the most dramatic in a series of efforts to appeal to Hillary Clinton supporters still disappointed that she did not capture the Democratic nomination."

I think Palin is much better looking than Hillary. As Proof says at Say Anything Blog: "What a refreshing change from making old, tired Washington insiders veep!" I like refreshing.
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I don't know much about Sarah Palin. Uncle Wiggily from the Heartland Notebook, said this about her in the feedlot comments: "She's purty, knows how to fish (family business), play basketball (state champs), and reproduce (5 kids). Mac could do worse." I understand she was endorsed by the NRA when running for Governor in 2006 (Press Release - pdf).
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I felt I had to stick with the fish theme, so I wouldn't seem so silly for taking the Pawlenty bait.
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Selected Reactions from all sides:

• PUMAS at Count Us Out: Hillary supporters are happier than if McCain had picked Hillary.
• Daily Kos: Worse than Quayle ...the most unqualified VP nominee in modern history... McCain revealed his desperation to make a splash to rival the genuine excitement generated by the Obama campaign.
  
• Three Month's Time: John McCain has dropped a bombshell. ...if this is a strategy from the McCain team to get the Hillary supporters who weren’t, for some asenine (sic) reason, swayed by Obama this week, it is the most shameless, ruthless display of politics we’ve seen since… Worse: She’s pro-fur and seemingly anti-animal. More: She’s pro-hunting and allows creationism to be mentioned in Alaska's public schools. [This babe is pissed off!]
• Power Line: Carp, carp, carp. (Thats a Salmon she's holding, Paul, John & Scott. compare it to the little hammer-handle walleye Pawlenty caught.) Minnesota isn't any nearer to the center of the earth than Alaska. Think positive!
  
• Think Progress: Palin denies global warming is man-made. She once attacked McCain for his 'close-mindedness on ANWR.'
  
• American Thinker: Defending Against the First Attacks on Sarah Palin
  
• Anchorage Daily News: Husband Todd Palin - He's worked the oil patch, won the Iron Dog and takes care of the kids.
• wizbang - Kim Priestap: Palin on Energy I - the polar bears endangering energy independence; Palin on Energy II - Palin knocks Biden for voting against the Trans Alaska Oil Pipeline 30 years ago.
  
• Barking Moonbat EWS: Background information and great photos of the Palins. "Let’s find out who this woman is and what she stands for. Then let’s see if she can deliver the goods on the campaign trail. "
• Jawa Report: Wall Street Journal has a fevah and the only cure is more Palin, "My family and I eat a healthy diet heavy in wild Alaskan seafood, moose, caribou and fresh fruit," she says.
• TigerHawk: Thinking about attacking Sarah Palin - She is no Dick Cheney, but she's almost certainly a better shot.
  
• Michelle Malkin: A true conservative: “She knows when to stand up and doesn’t let anyone tell her to sit down”
• Hot Air: Video - Palin knocks Biden on drilling, ties it to national security. And not just Biden either, she says Bush lacks a national energy policy, kowtows to the Saudis. Look for McCain ANWR epiphany any day now.
  
• MSNBC's Keith Boykin: Palin is an affirmative-action pick.
• CNN’s John Roberts: Palin Might Neglect Her Disabled Infant?
• The Page (Time/CNN) Mark Halperin: Palin=$ McCain camp claims $3 million poured in by 6 pm ET after Palin pick.
  
• Rosie O'Donnell:
  obama did not even vet
  r nations most qualified woman
  johnnie mac chose one
  a beauty queen - no less
  
• Barbra Streisand: “This calculated, cynical ploy to pull away a small percentage of Hillary's women voters from Barack Obama will not work. We are not that stupid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
  
• Democratic Underground round-up: Anyone who thinks Palin is a "bimbo" check in here.
• Pajamas Media - Rick Moran: More to Sarah Palin Than Meets the Eye. There's steel behind that beautiful smile that Democrats belittle at their peril.
• Volokh Conspiracy: Sarah Palin's Dad, "I'd rather go moose hunting than be involved with politics."
  
• Belmont Club: The old attack pilot pulled a move which aims to exploit several chinks in Obama’s armor: gender and class.
• Joe Biden: She’s good-looking
  
• Fred Thompson: I am absolutely delighted by this selection. Once again, John McCain has shown that he is an independent thinker who paints in bold strokes. Sarah Palin is a conservative reformer with executive experience who will bring a breath of fresh air to Washington. She will be an ideal running mate for John McCain, and will make a major contribution to our country's future.
• Mark Steyn: The hostess with the moosest - naughty librarian vibe - won't need the usual stage-managed "hunting" trip to reassure gun owners - took on her own party's corrupt political culture directly while Obama was sucking up to Wright and Ayers and being just another get-along Chicago machine pol - Hyper-American. What other country in the developed world produces beauty queens who hunt caribou and serve up a terrific moose stew?
  
• Gateway Pundit: "Move Over Barack Obama, There's A New Rock Star In Town!" And, cryptically, "Her husband is a native eskimo." (Evidently, Todd Palin is one-eighth Yup'ik.)

Reform - Prosperity - Peace
Neither of them is a Lawyer

Are you ready to support the McCain-Palin ticket? I'm betting lots of old-line conservatives will be loosening up their wallets now.
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Going Deep: Heartland Notebook suggests persuasively that the re-invigoration of McCain's campaign, perhaps including the Palin pick, are attributable to Steve Schmidt, the new "man behind the curtain" at McPalin.