If we’re consigned to choosing among Republicans for the Republican Veep (heh), I’m more and more keen on Sarah Palin. Yes, Yuval’s right that the GOP won’t beat the Democrats for excitement, but the GOP might excite particular constituencies. Palin is tackling the establishment in Alaska, including the oil and gas industry (much to the chagrin of some of my relatives!). She’s attractive (former Ms. Alaska). She could get some real profile out of this polar bear lawsuit. She reinforces McCain’s outsider-reformer-Western credentials. And, for the moderate soccer mom types who were all jazzed about Hillary being the first woman president, she might win a few suburbanite female swing-voters for the same reason. Obama is going to have to pick a boring white guy precisely because he’s not one. McCain doesn’t need to pick a boring white guy because he’s got that locked up already. Though in fairness, McCain’s not really that boring, he’s just portrayed that way by the Obama Coronation Committee* which, until recently, cast John McCain as the most Exciting Republican in America.
(The call goes forth from the editor every morning at the NYT bullpen: “Are you down with the OCC?” and everyone looks up from their desks, “Yeah, you know me!”).