I’m really hoping he picked her (HT: Benjamin). There is conflicting evidence as to her current whereabouts.
Palin brings a lot to the ticket. A female conservative, a staunch pro-life activist, someone who has stood up to excesses in government spending, an advocate of off-shore drilling. She could debate Biden if for no other reason than he would look mean. A new face — which would get the media buzzing about her for days, suppressing (to some degree) the expected bounce for Obama-Biden.
I really like her. She brings some inexperience, yes, but McCain has experience aplenty. She is young, compelling, attractive, and engaging. Of course, being female does not hurt in turns of bringing in disaffected Hillary supporters (which seems to be a big part of the McCain strategy).
Update: CNBC is saying it is Palin. So is the Chicago Tribune. The McCain Team neither confirms nor denies the report.
Wow, what an ability on McCain’s part to keep a secret — multiple decoys!
Update #2: CNN reports:
Thursday night’s arrival of a private jet from Alaska at the Middleton, Ohio, airport raised speculation that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would be McCain’s pick. Middleton is 25 miles from Dayton.
Rich Bevis, an airport manager at the Middleton airport, said that a woman, two men and two teenagers were onboard. Video Watch conservative analyst Bill Bennett mull Palin as a VP pick.
“This is the most secretive flight we’ve ever had,” Bevis said.
I agree with Erick Erickson of Redstate — this is an incredible, game-changing move, and it is being executed brilliantly. The media will be forgetting about Obama’s speech. Also, Jonathan Martin is saying it is Palin. It does not seem like a big deal (to me) that her “spokesman says she is in Alaska“. Of course, that’s what he thinks.