No one denies that John McCain's choice of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his VP running mate was an act of desperation - but by an extraordinary stroke of luck, she was precisely what his campaign needed to energize a reluctant base of religious and conservative groups.
Palin's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention and consequent anointing as the Next Biggest Star in the political sphere proved that winning the presidential race really is a beauty contest: It helps to have a brain, but you get most of your points for looking good.
When all was said and done, Palin looked more cheerful and more genial than Obama on that stage. She also gave a rousing pep talk that genuinely electrified the congregation and decisively converted the skeptics of her Party. By contrast, Obama had had all the life and fire sucked out of him by Democratic strategists who wanted him to play it safe and move his message to the middle. As a result, his presidential acceptance speech was rather constraint and bland. It succeeded only in preaching to the converted. He was so focused on hitting all the right points that he lost sight of what a political speech is suppose to do - and what he does so well - which is to inspire.
Sounding Off
Most people had never even heard of Sarah Palin prior to McCain's introduction. After her speech, all that changed. Yet, in the din of media and Party acclaim and adulation, the truth is that Palin's speech and, in the weeks to come, her position as John McCain's running mate could prove more of a liability than an asset. While her speech firmed up McCain's conservative and religious base, it also sent many undecided voters flying into the arms of Obama.
Reportedly, her speech helped to generate over $10 million in contributions for the Republicans. But she also helped the Democrat, sparking a similar amount in contributions for Obama. The glib, comfortable way in which she distorted and lied outright about her own record versus that of Obama's did not sit well with everyone. Social conservatives saw her as their savior, but others saw her as the Church Lady on steroids.
High on God
Coming out of the starting gate, Palin has also set the bar for herself exceptionally high: as a defender of family values; as a God-fearing individual whose actions are guided by her deep, religious convictions and moral strength; and as an ethical public servant who is politically independent. These are moral baggage of massive weight that few human beings could ever realistically shoulder. If history has taught us one thing, it is that people who are most vocal about their moral superiority and their right to impose it upon others - they are the ones whose private lives are most flawed. And under unrelenting public scrutiny, their contradictions eventually surface.
Signs are already there that the euphoria of Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention could prove the equivalent of a one-night stand. The morning after, people were already beginning to question some of her claims. For example, expounding family values, she paraded her unwed, pregnant teenage daughter and the baby's startled young father before millions of Americans. Was teenage sex and pregnancy part of the wholesome family picture? Palin's "bridge to nowhere" reference also angered many Alaskans and political leaders of both parties, who saw her claim as false and a betrayal of their community.
An Offer They Can't Refuse
In her opening speech, Sarah Palin also threw down the gauntlet to the media and the opposition party, daring them to cross the line and challenge her version of the truth - and that's an offer they can't refuse. Her hometown is probably already swarming with Paparazzi and Democratic "operatives" who are determined to pry into her personal life and find a few skeletons - preferably those that come with pictures. Undoubtedly, reporters are also furiously trolling MySpace and other sites on the Internet for entries by her teenage children. Young people tend to post dubious pictures of themselves online in questionable situations.
The irony is that McCain was probably better off staying his old boring self and not "shaking up" his campaign. There were already indications that he was beginning to slowly gain on Obama in the weeks before Palin. Undecided voters acknowledged that McCain was a terrific bore - yet, for various reasons, they could not bring themselves to vote for Obama; reluctantly, they were drifting toward McCain.
McCain's selection of a woman also took away the shock value of Obama as the first African American who could become President. It neutralized the weighty sense of historical precedence some voters felt. History was going to be made either way, so why obsess over the choice? Finally, the same social conservatives who are skeptical of putting an African American at the helm also tend to worry about putting an "emotional woman" a heartbeat from the presidential office. Gender was a major issue in Hillary Clinton's campaign. Now it's an issue for McCain.
When all is said and done, it comes down to Sarah Palin herself: she can dish it out, but can she take it? She has yet to experience the trial by fire that is the burning hot spotlight of the national media. Like rats after the cheese, they scurry over every nook and cranny of one's personal life until they find the crumbs of scandals. The truth is out there. And the new generation of tabloid journalism - no, not the Washington Post or The New York Times - will dig it up and expose it to the world.