A VP we can REALLY Believe In

Sen. John McCain announced Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate this morning. This move is a an absolute masterstroke by McCain. Some of Gov. Palin's many strong points:

• She is a young, energetic mother of 5
• She is solidly pro-life. Her youngest son, born this last April, has Downs Syndrome. This is a perfect counterpoint to the pro-death views of the Democratic party - who would have aborted this beautiful child.
• She has made a name for herself fighting the corruption that Alaska has become infamous for.
• She is the mother of a US Soldier. In the War on Terror both her and Sen. McCain have put their money where their mouth is. When they put soldiers in harms way it is personal for them. They won't take this responsibility lightly because the stakes are so personally high.
• As both a mayor and governor she has cut wasteful spending and then returned the funds to the people that paid into it.
• She directly confronted corruption and entrenched interests in her state to make government serve the people, not the special interests, demonstrating a courage not often found in politicians.
• She is the Governor of our largest oil-producing state, but not an oil executive. This gives her credibility on the energy issue without suspicion. (Who better to tell us the TRUTH about ANWR?)
• She has executive experience as both a Governor and a Mayor
• She has credibility on environmental issues.
• She is fiscally conservative in every sense of the word.
• She is a lifetime member of the NRA as well as an avid hunter and fisher. She is absolutely rock-solid on the 2nd Ammendment
• Finally, she is a woman. Selecting her as his running mate gives the lie to Democratic accusations of our party being sexist and may help attract and/or retain the "defense moms" that put President Bush over the top for his second term.

Governor Palin will bring great strength to Senator McCain's campaign. He has made a choice that surprised a lot of people - demonstrating his independent streak, but this choice also takes some of the spotlight off of Obama's historic run as the first African-American to be a major-party nominee. Governor Palin is a choice that the party base can enthusiastically support, and this move will bring much more excitement and interest to the GOP base that has been mostly lukewarm to Sen. McCain's candidacy.

Excellent choice Senator McCain!