She spoke directly to the hearts and minds of everyday Americans, sick of self-perpetuating, self-aggrandizing elitists. The fly-over folk have lost patience, not only with a paralyzed and inept Congress, but also those who cannot see beyond the margins of conventional wisdom.
Pundits on the left and right are having a conniption-fit. This severe cranial cramping is the result of over-thinking, over-analyzing, and trying to cram the Palin phenomenon into the square holes of inside-the-beltway thinking.
I have news for former speech writers, congressional insiders, lawyers-turned-journalists, and think-tankers who find themselves adrift in a new alien landscape. Excitement for the McCain-Palin ticket is a weather-rounded peg that cannot fit into the old square holes. The peg has been weathered and worn, because folks have been subjected to a derelict government for years; term after term, election after election, no matter which Party holds or gains control.
Permanent fixtures in the House and Senate have adopted a two-task job description. Run for re-election, and hold meaningless, never-ending hearings designed primarily for political payback. It is quite nauseating, and unfortunately, old-guard pundits play right in and simply become enablers.
John McCain got under my skin on some issues over the years, but I believe he did so in a well-intentioned effort to jam a wrench into the status quo. He came across as too eager to bend over on some issues. On reflection, I can see his motivation and empathize with his desire to kick through some carcasses on the road in the hope of moving forward.
Sarah Palin brings back to John McCain a sense of conservative boundaries that I believe he will respect and use. As President, there will be no need to bend over as far as seemed necessary in the Senate for McCain, but we must also stop this absurd pundit notion that divided government is a good thing. Conservatives must reclaim a working majority in Congress, a task that is up to us to accomplish.
But back to these mental gymnastics the talking heads have been trying to accomplish regarding Sarah Palin. It is absurd to say that the McCain campaign cannot honestly use experience as an argument against Obama. As has been pointed out, Palin has real executive experience. Obama has none.
On Election Day one of two realities will be upon us. We will have elected a Vice President with a measurable quantity of Executive, Commander-in-Chief Experience or we will have elected a President who has absolutely none.
John McCain is unlikely to pass on to his rewards the day after taking the oath of office, but if he happened to do so, we will be in a far better position with Sarah Palin after the fact, than with Obama on day one.