Are those nails I hear?

I believe that the election may have been won today.

Obviously I'm of a fairly mainstream Republican vent...but I think that this news bodes very well for John McCain.

Governor Palin is a solid Conservative, which will sit well with the Conservatives that have been less than enthusiastic about McCain. It also signals to the entire party that the future is NOT in moderate, middle of the road politics; its in real, life tested good old fashioned Conservatism that we have been wanting for decades. Such a signal should encourage Conservatives that might otherwise have stayed home to come out and vote; after all, the future of the party belongs to us, if we will do the hard work of getting a Republican elected in a Democrat year. Everyone for weeks has been saying that it was doubtful that the VP's would have any tangible effect on the outcome of the election. I think that, with McCain on the front of the ticket, the Republican VP choice will be a major deciding factor for the election...and this was the right move.

It knocks Obama off his "historic campaign" podium. Now, whoever wins, history will be made.

It opens up the potential for those voters that like John McCain and were sorely disappointed by Clinton's complete snubbing by Obama, to vote for a woman to be in those highest halls of government. In short, this could shift major power back to the Republican party. Time will tell, but if this has any trickle down effect on who runs in the party, I think the change will be dramatic. Look to see more exciting and dynamic Conservative leaders start taking the reins...and then, look to see Congress switch hands again.

It increases the chance of Joe Biden making a major gaffe. How to insult the first major woman VP candidate without appearing to be condescending, smug, or chauvinist? Tricky...especially when you're as prone to appear that way as Biden already is.

It challenges the perception that the Republicans are the insiders in this race. With Biden on the ticket, that was already an issue for the Dems...now, with a governor from Alaska (nearly as far from Washington as possible), Republicans have the only candidate that wasn't previously working in Washington, and the only candidate that has served as a government executive.

She has the upper hand on the issue of drilling, as its an issue literally in her own backyard. She is a living challenge to Obama's radical acceptance of abortion. McCain and Palin will both be able to support seeing the war through to victory with credibility, since they both have sons in the military in Iraq. Expect to see soccer moms by the van-load turn out for the McCain-Plain ticket; she is one of them, and a darn fine one from everything we can tell. The perfect balance to the suggestions that McCain is the "out-of-touch" candidate, because of his many homes. As much as any successful politician can be, she is in touch with regular people.

***Potential Problems***

There are, of course, issues with any VP pick, their strengths not withstanding. Gov. Palin is relatively new to major politics...roughly as new as Sen. Obama. Still, the experience gap should not be a problem for the Republicans, since the experience of our VP is comparable to the experience of their President. We front-loaded the top of the ticket...Biden, we have to assume, was an attempt to solve a major problem from Obama. Unfortunately, that has to be tempered with the reality that Biden is a Washington Insider; if change is the order of the day, Biden is very out of place. Palin, the only executive in the race, has the experience she needs to be a qualified VP, while not being tainted by being the perpetual politician that her counterpart is.

Can she handle the scrutiny of a national campaign? I think so...having seen some of her public appearances previously and watching her now. Time will tell. I do think that, when going up against Biden, she needs to be tough, but will manage to avoid becoming shrill and domineering like Hillary Clinton. We all understand the difficult position Clinton was in, wanting to hit Obama, but being unable to do so AND appear feminine AND avoid making problems for herself with her own party AND leave wiggle room for the general. Palin doesn't have to worry about that. She can play hard, but still be the hockey mom. I think she's in a prime position to play Biden's bluddering tongue against him, while hitting hard on the ample problems he brings to the Change/Hope ticket.

It may be premature, but I believe the casket is closing on Obama's Icarus-esque rise and fall in the 2008 election campaign. Just over two months left...we shall see...