Tim Fernholz on why McCain's pick of Palin is a gamble:
John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin is a gimmick, a desperation pick. It's a last-ditch attempt for McCain to be a maverick again and recapture his reformist credentials. Despite her image, Palin has ethics problems of her own, and she and McCain share George W. Bush's conservative politics. Worst of all, though, her lack of experience raises serious concerns about her basic fitness for office, and McCain's willingness to put his campaign before the good of the country.Palin does bring a few advantages to McCain's campaign. She reinforces McCain's standing with his conservative base. She is a member of the Christian right who is strongly anti-choice and a favorite of opinion-makers like Rush Limbaugh. Like most Alaskan politicians, her commitment to drilling for oil jibes nicely with McCain's "drill now, drill here" mentality; she even goes a step further than McCain to advocate drilling in Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge. And there's the electoral bonus: Palin's popularity in Alaska could move the state, which was slipping towards Obama, back into the GOP column.
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