The XX Factor: Slate women blog about politics, etc...

It's a Girl!

Just yesterday, I was thinking how waiting for John McCain to choose a running mate was like watching St. Peter's for white smoke; your little baby heart is hoping that the choice will be outside the box, sending a message of inclusion and care for other people's problems, but in the end ... hey, who woulda guessed, it's Cardinal Same-old, Same-old.

Now that he's chosen Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, however, I am delighted to have been proven wrong. A naked grab for the Hillary vote? Yeah, and so what? Does progress ever happen for other-than-pragmatic reasons? Palin is a smart, reforming, 44-year-old pro-life mama of five who will bring energy to the ticket and help McCain with conservatives for sure.

The downside, of course, is that given McCain's age and history of health problems, it was extra important for him to pick someone who really could be president tomorrow. And by so explicitly demonstrating that he thinks Palin is ready, I'd say that undercuts the idea that Obama, who is three years older and far more experienced than she, is somehow still too green.

There's also that investigation into whether she did or did not try to get the state trooper her sister is divorcing fired ... but even if true, a lot of women in particular might not be outraged.

In the end, none of Palin's competition for the vice-presidential nomination would have worked: Romney? You can't have a guy who makes the candidate wince every time he looks at him. Lieberman? So many Republicans and Democrats would have been alienated by that choice that I never understood what he was thinking with that one. And Pawlenty and Ridge: Not exactly game-changers. Which Palin could be.