Samira wrote:
If he had picked either of them, or Romney, I'd be worried right now.
I just can't seem to understand this, haha.
What's not to understand? She's been on the short list for months. While Romney was the more obvious pick from a "Is he presidential" perspective, there's still the possibility that some nutty religious types might not like that he's not their kind of nutty religion. Also, Obama's choice of Biden was so awful that I suspect it gave the McCain camp the sense that they had more breathing room to pick a more "maverick" type VP choice.
I think the McCain camp is overdoing the "Clinton's voters might come our way and tip the balance" idea with this, but it's not a ridiculous idea. At the least, it takes some of the "historic" aspect of the Obama candidacy off the table. She's also very well thought of in Conservative circles without having the kind of baggage that Joe Biden brings to the other sides choice.
It was a way for McCain to show his maverick side without going too far afield. She balances the Republican ticket in a way that Biden doesn't balance the Dem ticket. She'll draw in conservatives without pushing away exactly the voters that McCain hopes to pick up in the middle (mostly blue collar working class and women). I think that most of you sitting there thinking "who?" haven't been listening to conservative pundits discuss potential McCain VP picks for the last 4-5 months. Her name has come up a lot in those circles. And not just as a "let's put a woman on the ticket".