E!! The True Conservative Story™

Smart + Pretty = A Good Start

(Submitted this and got it posted on my new favorite blog:  This + That.  Very clever idea.  Check it out!)

All the news outlets were reporting it as I walked out the door at 7:30 a.m.  Personally, I like the pick and think this is good news for the GOP.  Here are some pros:

She’s a principled fiscal conservative who beat an incumbent by promising to cut government waste in Alaska – and did it.  She slashed pork spending, cancelled hundreds of millions of dollars of unnecessary construction projects, and sold the gubernatorial private jet on eBay (for $2.7M).

She’s for responsible drilling.  I heard a clip from a speech she gave on “the small sliver of coastal terrain” that is ANWR and how/why drilling could/should be done there and elsewhere.  It was good. 

She’s a social conservative and pro-life (but not rabid about it) which will energize the GOP base.  She’s happily married and has five children, the most recent born in April (a Down Syndrome baby she gladly and willingly chose to have).

Any attacks on her lack of experience – she’s been governor for only two years – can be turned around:  she has more senior executive experience than Obama, or Biden (or McCain, for that matter).  Plus, she’s the #2  and not running for POTUS.  Yet.

She’s plain spoken “regular folks” so should connect well with the middle class.  And she’s got a fairly compelling personal story and family life:  athlete, beauty queen, hunter, former professional fisher person (LOL), married her high school sweetheart, son about to deploy to Iraq.

On a more personal note, I like that she’s a Hockey Mom.  (My brother played hockey for years, so we spent many winter weekends hanging around in Michigan and Canadian hockey arenas.)  Not that it has anything to do with politics.  Then again, someone who enjoys a fast-moving, hard-hitting, sometimes down-and-dirty sport like hockey must have a tough streak, right?

I’ll do some Cons later after I think more about it.

6:19 a.m.

ABC is saying Palin has NOT left Alaska.

And in re: to the Foreign Affairs Experience (or lack thereof) of Palin (or any candidate), Andy McCarthy said this:

…a lot of the experience talk is overblown when it comes to foreign affairs.  John O’Sullivan is the expert on this, but I don’t think Lady Thatcher had much foreign affairs experience to speak of when she became PM.  In contrast, Sen. Biden has a ton of foreign policy experience — enough to have been wrong on just about every major issue over the last 30 years.

Seems to me the people with loads of foreign policy experience are drenched in the Kennedy School/Wilson School/internationalist view of the world.  As between that and someone who’s smart, has sensible instincts, and has a healthy Washingtonian suspicion of international entanglements, I’ll take the latter, thank you.

6:01 a.m. (Pacific)

Politico is reporting that Pawlenty says it’s Not him.

A few on The Corner are saying that this morning Alaska Governor Sarah Palin left Anchorage and landed on Dayton, OH.

And:  Romney will be in Dayton today.  (?!)

Whatever the case, McCain’s team has done a great job keeping this one under wraps (no leaks:  amazing!)

A short time ago, word was spreading that Pawlenty was cancelling speeches and appearances left and right.  And now it just broke that Pawlenty will be on “Meet the Press” with Brokaw this weekend.

If Pawlenty’s the pick, I’m “0 for 2″ with political predictions.  Actually, 0-3 since McCain/Romney can’t win if Romney ain’t on the tick-ie.

(darn!)(LOL)

James Poulos has an interesting piece re: Veep picks up on Culture11 today.  As a result of his column, and a few others I’ve read, I’ve revised my opinion about the Biden pick.

To say Biden is either a Terrible or Genius pick implies that the choice mattered, which – in this unique election year – it really did not.

Obama’s candidacy is so historic, his political chronicle so polarizing, and his persona so massive, that Biden is quite beside the point. Obama could have chosen just about anyone; November’s result will turn on other realities.

While I’m researching the latest with our state delegation, Erick Erickson is saying this re: Nevada:

Two states are quietly seizing on the disarray with the Nevada delegation. I’m told quite reliably that if McCain picks a liberal Vice Presidential nominee the majority of delegates in two states plan to force a vote on the convention floor.

From how it was explained to me, five states must support a motion to vote on the nominee. Two states just might do it and they are calculating on Nevada going along with it, which would necessitate only two other states needed.

Fox/Hannity is reporting that the Obama camp has said they will not text the VP pick until at/after 10 a.m. tomorrow.

They’ve got the cameras on Biden’s house “Live” and Dick Morris is saying he thinks it IS Biden. Which surprises me if true. I didn’t think Obama would go with a white-haired guy especially one with such a strong personality and who supported the intial action in Iraq as well as The Surge. Plus Biden pointed out Obama’s lack of experience earlier in the year, which is a sound byte the Obama camp could live without in a race that’s getting tighter with each passing day.

I thought it would be Bayh because his personality wouldn’t eclipse Obama, he’s a moderate, he’s a fiscal conserative, and he’s generally likeable especially with/by women – a demographic that Obama is struggling with right now.

I guess we won’t know until tomorrow…and some people are still saying “it’s Hillary” so the speculation continues.

Confession:

I love to predict political outcomes but so far have lacked the courage to post them on E!!  Today, I shed the shackles of fear and take a stand with some predictions…

Obama’s VP pick will be Evan Bayh.

McCain’s VP pick will be Romney (who will run in 2012 when McCain decides one term was enough).

McCain-Romney will win easily in November.

Hillary will win her party’s nominiation in 2012 after saying something like this to the Dems, “Hey Dummies!  Your arugula-eating, Maxim reading, Harvard grad Golden Boy got stomped in ’08, so stop messing around and nominate me.”

The Corner is speculating that Chet Edwards (not John) might be the pick.  Not a good idea due to the possible name confusion; don’t think it’s gonna happen. 

I think Obama should pick Hillary if he wants to have any chance of winning, but I’m not sure she would agree to take it or that he would be willing to tolerate her on the ticket – or in the White House on a daily basis. 

Geraldine Ferraro was on Hannity last night and said there is “no way” Hillary will accept the VP spot under Obama.  Others have said they think she would, if it were properly offered.

If I were a Hillary staffer, I would advise her to Just Say No to Obama and stick with the roll call vote at the convention, which even if she loses will remind people that she still has strong support in the Demcoratic base, and then in 2012 she can come back and say (to the Dems), “OK Dummies, your Golden Boy got stomped in ’08, so stop messing around and nominate me.”

National Review Online editor-at-large Jonah Goldberg just emailed me to point out that Reid could screw Lieberman on committee assignments, seniority, etc. 

(I suppose Lieberman might prefer a broken leg or two to being shut down in the Senate…)

One of today’s Roll Call alerts leads with this opener:  “With the controversy surrounding Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) speaking at the GOP presidential convention and his name being floated as a potential GOP running mate, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) maintains that there will be no consequences for the Independent-Democrat.”

What “consequences” would there BE…? 

Does this mean Reid has called off his privately funded band of mercenary thugs?  Or changed his mind about bribing a Senate dining room server to poison Lieberman’s lunch?

And is this anything like Jack Nicholson’s order (in the film A Few Good Men) that Private So-and-So was “not to be harmed”?

Now THIS is funny.  (Read the whole list of suggested slogans for the photo and possible Democratic presidential ticket of…Barack Obama and George Clooney.)

UPDATE:  Nicky Cheese picks one I also like Best:  ”The experience of Chicago street politics, with all the morals of Hollywood.”