because of a charter flight that went from Anchorage to Ohio.

But I think Palin would be an incredibly desperate and risky choice. She's current under investigation for an abuse of power scandal, and she has zero foreign policy or economic experience.

Palin vs. Biden in the debate? Give me a break.

The pick would make a big splash at first, but would not wear well.

Everyone seems pretty sure that it's Pawlenty.  Don't expect that Minnesota will become that competitive though, the guy only won re-election by a single percent in 2006, and Obama has enough of a base in MN that he can afford to lose a few points and still win it.

That said, if McCain picks Pawlenty it's cause he feels he needs someone young and outside of Washington to balance the ticket.

Romney?  Not happening, though it would be hilarious to watch.  Putting a billionaire on the ticket would do wonders for Democratic attack ads after his houses fiasco.

McCain can't really pick Romney after the crap he spewed about what Biden had said about Obama in the primaries.

'President Obama?'  Nice to have you aboard.

Please, please, PLEASE be Pawlenty.  Romney would be amazing too (well, for us), but I just don't see it happening.  All of the buzz on Republican blogs seems to point to Timmy.

Romney doesn't sit well with fundamentalist Christian voters, who view Mormonism with more disdain than any other religion (misappropriating Jesus being worse than ignoring Jesus). And they don't trust McCain already.

The problem is that the GOP needs the religious right, the corporate/economic bloc, and a fair number of independents to win 50%. Huckabee, Romney, and McCain each appeal to only one set of voters, leaving at least one set unmotivated. Unless he announces expanding the office to two vice presidents, he has no perfect pick.

There are two private flights from Anchorage to Dayton, yesterday.... one of them stopping in Arizona for awhile...

The freepers think it's Sarah Palin... God, I hope they are wrong!  I can't sleep thinking about it...  That certainly would be a gamechanger for him... and seeing McCain's obsessions over PUMAs and Obama's performance tonight... they need to reach a bit...

Now, the question is, how will women voters respond to this gimmick, especially our disaffected Hillary voters?

BTW, Palin's intrade numbers are soaring now...

Why so scared of Palin?

Also, she has a 5 month (I think) old child with Down Syndrome.  And 4 other children.  Speaking from my perspective as a mother, I simply cannot believe that she would jump into a presidential race with a 5 month old child to take care of, especially one who is disabled.

than Hutchinson.  KBH has over a decade in the Senate while Palin has less experience than Obama.  She is analogous to Biden in the sense that he purportedly stepped Obama's message of change given his thirty-six years in the Senate in the same way she would step on McCain's message of tested experience given that she has just as much as Tim Kaine, a ticket that the pubs were ready to shred as the most inexperienced ticket in history.  

KBH takes care of the experience issue and McCain would still have be playing for history.  I'm just glad she apparently won't be the pick.  I don't fear Palin as much, though she could very well be a hit.  Palin would be my #2 choice, behind KBH and ahead of anyone with testicles, if I were McCain.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8 /28/85942/1927

Still hoping he picks Pawlenty.

That guy has "Dan Quayle" written all over him.

Unless this a head-fake:

"Gov. Pawlenty tells Minneapolis radio he will not be traveling to Dayton Friday. Says it's 'a fair assumption' he will not be McCain's running mate."

www.thepage.com

KBH worries me most. In fact she's the only serious contender that worries me.

Pawlenty, Romney and Lieberman all have their own bonuses for us.

Pawlenty is an unknown with very limited foreign policy experience which undercuts McCain attacks on Obama. Barely won his last election.

Romney adds to the plutocrat image, flip flops and clips of him attacking McCain.

Lieberman infuriates the base, he's a poor speaker, won't swing connecticut.

Breaking its NOT Pawlenty.

MSNBC just confirmed it.

MITTENS IS NOT THE PICK.  FUCK

...is that McCain's entire theme for the convention is, "Obama isn't ready yet."  You can't build on that theme and have Palin as your VP pick.  It destroys your entire argument.

It's sounding like a coin toss between Palin and Romney at this point...

Pawlenty is a legacy choice almost. ie, McCain choosing his successor in 2012 to run against a President Obama.

Is being the running mate on a losing ticket really a springboard to the Presidency?

As far as I can see, the only non-Vice President to occupy the #2 slot on a losing ticket, who then later on gains the Presidency himself, was FDR.  But in FDR's case I think it's clear that being Governor of New York from 1929 to 1932 was the springboard, not his presence on the failed 1920 Democratic ticket.

Both MSNBC and Fox are reporting that it's not Romney.

I said yesterday I thought he would pick a woman, so if it's not KBH, then I think he will probably pick Palin. McCain campaign has been about trying to grab the daily headlines. Do whatever possible to win that days news coverage. We've seen it this past week.
The only drawback would be the question, if you think Obama doesn't have the experience, then why pick someone with less experience. However, he would get great press and take Obama off the headlines. And despite her hard core, right wing, conserative views, she will appeal to many women upset about Hillary and the media. So, the media will probably lay off being too critical of her.
Romney would be the safe choice and help in Michigan and out West. And he would help McCain with his economic weakness. Though he comes off as a phony, at least to me. And there is a number of ways Democrats can hit back with a Romney choice.

But what ever happened to Christine Todd Whitman? Did she do something terrible that's caused her to drop off the radar of Republican politics?

I've always thought she was a good egg...

So, Hilary supporters?  What say you?  How does McCain's Palin choice affect your thinking or the thinking of other democratic women?

Its going to be Palin. Hail Mary's hardly ever work....

Palin is in Alaska!!  ABC Is confirming it.

Joementum... Joementum....Joementum....Joementum

The condi rumors are still there and wow what a gift wrapped way to tie in the 3rd bush term.

Ridge or Joementum

hearing tidbits from CNN that its could still be Palin...

If it's Palin, they choose because Obama
hit it out of the park last night and they think their only shoot is Clinton supporters...

I think more likely Ridge, but Palin is my number two suggestion, you can already see the Clinton sockpuppets selling it here...

NoQuarter will love the Sarah Palin pick.....

Lets just remind ourselves children:
Here is one ,but you may  take your pick from the many on offer.
Share them with your friends AND they make great ads  for the Obama campaign to roll out..you know ..for those evenings when there isn't anything really good on TV. They kind of speak for themselves. Enjoy the whole collection!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on50uby6Z Pw&NR=1

MSNBC says Lieberman in town... Restate.com take a collective dump in their pants...

Couple things:

I just caught Morning Joe, where they said that it wasn't Pawlenty or Romney

I sucked it up and went to Drudge, who links to an ABC article that says that Palin is in Alaska today.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/ 2008/08/mccain-vp-conte.html

If indeed the choice is Sarah Palin, then the dream of drill/drill/drill will be realized this year. She is a hunter, likes moose burgers, her husband is an Eskimo, and right now, I can hardly contain my excitement.

That would knock the socks off of the media. The surprising speech would be so surprising and make us forget about the Democratic National Convention. Please pick Jeb Bush for VP.

Romney is out, according to CNN.

I've thought (pessimistically) Palin, for a while.  She is a pretty compelling candidate and is really the only one who can knock Obama out of the news for a few days now, just when we would hope for some extended play from the convention.  I wonder, if it is her, if McCain reassessed his choice as he watched the DNC in horror.

Ridge and Lieberman actually scare me: Ridge because he's not pro-life, and Lieberman because it's harder to make the case that this is George Bush's third term when there's a nominal Democrat on the ticket.

Palin doesn't worry me at all: she's under investigation and there's that ridiculous vogue cover.  These things matter.  I think choosing someone who posed for a vanity shot removes McCain's only successful line of attack.

Romney is on an airplane. However, they say that he's going to Boston.

But could this be a lie?

Looks like Palin is the pick. At least from two sources.

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politi cs/blog/

And from John Harwood

http://www.cnbc.com/id/26454655

I hate to hijack this thread.
But I'm a newbie on mydd, and a newbie to blogging in general.
I want to post my first diary, like ever...
will someone please help me... Where is that button and or link that says "POST A NEW DIARY"????

and to stay on topic, as a former-Republican, now indy and media-famed Obamacan, the only pick McCain can make to help the cause for conservatives is Mitt Romney. Lacking that pick, and if he really does go for Pailin, with the exception of the PUMA's jumping to her side, expect a backlash with all her problems in Alaska...

Governor Sarah Palin is John McCain's VP pick.

Will McCain will win much of the Hillary Clinton vote?

I think shows just how badly the internal numbers were for the McCain handlers.   The daily GOP tracking poll might be close, but evidently the need to really shake things up had to happen.   This is now equal to the 1984 campaign when Mondale picked up Ferraro ... and Ferraro had a lot more experience than Palin ...

Palin says McCain thinks he's going to lose.

It feels like cheating to me. The Democrats go out, organize, fight for women's rights, nominate the first female VP candidate, 18m vote for a woman for President then McCain does this.

This pick worries me a little. Will this attract Hillary supporters?

One good thing is that McCain's 'not ready to lead' attack is now totally undermined.

Marc just posted the capsule file:

44 years old. .... Five children. .... Dynamic personality. .... Elected in 2006 as a reformer. Opposed Don Young's re-election bid. ..... Anti-same sex marriage but supports other gay rights. .... She's a lifelong member of the National Rifle Association. .... Pro life.. Signed into law a very aggressive ethics reform package. ...... Good symbolism: she sold the former governor's state jet right after entering office. She's at the forefront of the oil drilling debate...very popular among all Alaskans. ......She faces a state probe into whether she tried to get a former brother in law fired from his law enforcement job.. .... Born in Idaho...grew up in Alaska... It would be hard for Sen. Joe Biden to bully her in a debate. ....

I think that the speech last night was the reason that he picked Palin. I think that McCain has no chance, but at least it showed that he wants to win it really badly. Maybe we should deny him.

Palin's a brilliant move.  We're going to have to figure out how to go after her without alienating, like, everybody.

Game on.

Confirmed by CNN: Palin is VP.

It's only a matter of time before the right starts to tear into her a bit. She signed same-sex benefits into law. She has a kid with Downs Syndrome. And she married an "Eskimo".. and probably most damning of all she's a woman. Oddly enough these are the only palatable things I find about her.

Her good looks standing next to McCain's wrinkled self may be a plus for the ticket.

I think after the magnificent convention, does Obama really need Clyburn suggesting that Palin is dumb. How soon do you think that Republican party would come out saying that Obama is running  a misogynistic campaign. My own suggestion would have been for asking Hillary to say something like--

`` Senator McCain has chosen Sarah Palin. I am glad that the Republican Party has finally decided to give females a voice and picked up a very commendable Sarah Palin. But like my good friend John, she has an extreme psoition on every major issue-healthcare, Iraq war, immigration, environment etc.. The choice represents a huge step backwards for our country.''