Intentional?

We are having some partisan fun, but there are times when we can all agree on one thing.  We are living in moments bound for history books:

The results are in and it appears that Republicans feel Sarah Palin is a slam dunk pick.  She simultaneously energizes the evangelical and conservative bases while possibly siphoning off some Hillary Clinton supporters.  Initial reactions where high with one regular here declaring, "McCain just won the presidency."  Well now that a few days have passed, let's get some reality here.  First, energizing your base often has an equal and opposite effect on the other side.  Polarizing issues such as Abortion and Gay Marriage are now front and center once again.  With some on the left calling for Ralph Nader votes, the last thing the GOP should want to do is move violently to the right with dissent brewing in the Democratic Party.

More importantly though is this notion that any votes will be taken from the Hillary Clinton camp simply because Sarah Palin is a woman.  One conservative blogger stated, "And with Palin seeking to become the first woman Vice President, many Hillary supporters have vowed to vote for McCain"  Unfortunately, so far the reaction hasn't been that warm.  There already was a chunk of Hillary Clinton supporters that were going to vote McCain after being disappointed in the primary process.  Results?  Only 9% of Democratic women said that the Palin selection would make them more likely to vote McCain.  My guess is those votes were already pretty much in the bag.  The percentage of men in the Republican Party more worried about the prospects of a female president are probably higher than 9%!

Do some Republicans think that women are so clueless they would pick someone who is a complete ideological opposite of them simply because a woman would be VP?  How can you even compare Hillary Clinton's service to Sarah Palin's?  You can't, and so far the choice appears to be sparking the wrong reaction.  It's obvious gender was a huge part of the decision.  If McCain had picked a man with the same credentials, even Republicans would be left scratching their heads.  When you are going to be the oldest President and your main attack on your opponent is inexperience you don't pick a new kid on the block.

So... thoughts on the Palin VP nod?  Excellent pick: little experience, insulting to women voters, and just a month ago wanted to know what the Vice President does.  It's not often you can make both Republicans and Democrats happy at the same time.  We could be wrong though, if women start voting with their little hood we might end up with egg on the lizard face:

Okay, so there was no breaking this one.  It's a little harder to get a lizard insider in the GOP, everyone knows how much they hate lizards.  We'll post our thoughts soon, but until then enjoy some sports reporting from our possible future VP....and funny thing, she disses Minnesota: