The McCain VP choice is really about where the GOP will head after President McCain, and thus a conservative with great political skills is necessary to encourage a dispirited base. You know I am talking about you, and keeping you in the game beyond the next two months. A President McCain will be all about winning the war and securing the country in the second phase of the long war. He will be focused on the military and on Iran and of course Russia and the PRC. He won't be much for party building. The conservatives will cheer McCain's seriousness abroad but will also need an ideas factory and a motivator in the Vice President's office, someone to charge up the think tanks and inspire the online legions.
But if McCain disappoints on the #2 --take a deep, deep breath before you scream. The stakes are way too high for huffing off stage right. St. Paul could be a great, great moment in the history of the GOP, or a bad few days to be overcome because the country needs a serious and experienced man at the helm during very difficult times that could get a lot worse before they get better.
If the veep announcement shocks you, or McCain has bad night on a debate or says "not now, not ever, never to ANWR," or anything else, keep a card in your wallet or purse, one that reads "Today, we are all Georgians."
You see, if that it was true when McCain said it, it means you have to work --all out and hard-- for his win, because the Georgians can't wait four years.