I sure hope they vetted her well and she has no risk of being caught in the suction of Ted Stevens going down.

Perhaps to some women breaking through to a new level is the highest priority in terms of what they are interested in.

I have no idea who she is. I wonder if she's at least partially miffed to be chosen simply for her gender.

Shrewd pick on the part of McCain, who - perhaps wisely - never ceases to underestimate the intelligence of Americans.

Hahah... well played McCain!

(I'm still voting for Obama, but I admire a good chess move)

While others will say that she's just riding McCain's coattails.

And she apparently comes with a ready-made scandal.

If picking unknown female VP candidates was the key to victory, former President Mondale would have addressed the convention this year.

I hear there are questions around as to whether she is qualified to be the VP, and the Stevens scandal is an interesting twist on it. one would have to figure the McCain couldn't be so stupid as to select someone who is tied in anyway to him, though.

Not that I even know what Stevens has done. Just that something is going on. Haven't cared enough to reserach.

Her own scandal is that she supposedly fired the state's public safety head because he refused to fire her ex-brother-in-law as a Highway Patrol Officer.

Well, seems to me this should at least slow down the Republican argument that Obama is disqualified since he hasn't the experience to be commander-in-chief and it isn't an on-the-job-training type position.

Obvious debate question now is "Sir, you have suggested that Mr. Obama is not ready to be president on day one. In the hypothetical situation of your death in office, in what way is Ms. Palin qualified to be president on day one that Mr. Obama is not? And if she is not qualified to be president in the event you vacate the office are you not putting political gamesmanship ahead of principal considering that assuming the presidency is the sole official responsibility she'll have?"

I'll be interested to hear what my brother in law, living in Alaska for the past 5 or 6 years, has to say about her. She was apparently elected under a climate of, "We're sick of old politics," so it would seem McCain's doing the inverse parallel of Obama, counteracting his image of entrenched politico with a relative newcomer.