Palin... a risky move?

Upon seeing that McCain picked Alaskan governor Sarah Palin as his vice president I immediately thought it was a rash decision, but not necessarily a stupid one. Picking a woman as his running mate, McCain equals up the playing field. Regardless of which party wins, history is being made. Obama will be the first African American as president and Palin will be the first woman ever to be on the presidential ticket.

Having a woman on the ticket, which until Friday was completely unknown, makes it easy to question if the Republican Party merely added her on to try and win the voters that supported Hillary Clinton. While it may entice some, I cannot see many women looking merely at her sex instead of her policies.

McCain’s campaign focused mainly on the lack of experience Obama held. Why then would they pick a woman who has been a governor for less time then Obama has been in the senate? One would think if this was such a serious point the Republican’s were trying to make they would have picked someone equally as qualified as McCain for the Vice President nomination.

Yet, Palin, being only 44 years old does bring a younger vibe to the republican ticket now. With discussion of McCain’s old age, after celebrating his 72 birthday last Friday, the Republican have someone equally as young as Obama to counter the Democrats “out of touch” slurs. Being a mother of 5, she not only gives a new aspect to the campaign but she brings a younger feel to the Republican Party.

I think it was a very risky move on McCain’s part but seems to be a wise decision.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/us/politics/29palin.html