...an audience of third graders

That's what George Will calls Palin's supporters. Ouch.

He takes aim at McCain and Palin's loose understanding of the Constitution.

Gibson Interview With Palin

A link from ABC news.

Your Opinion of the Sarah Palin Pick

64% --- great pick
28% --- are you nuts?
7% --- I like living under rocks

Again, help me out and explain your decision. What about her makes you like her or not like her?

Working Class Women

This is the demographic group that will determine who the next president is, apparently, and the one that Republicans are hoping Sarah Palin will pull to their side. Hillary Clinton had their support, but will they stay Democrat now that Obama is at the top of the ticket?

The Los Angeles Times argues that the Palin pick isn't quite luring them over, at least in one key battleground state, Pennsylvania:

Interviews with some two dozen women here after Palin's convention speech found that these voters were not swayed by the fiery dramatic speeches or compelling personal biographies that marked both the Republican and Democratic conventions. Instead, they were thinking about the price of milk -- nearly $5 a gallon -- or the healthcare coverage that many working families here cannot afford.

Even if they admire Palin's attempt to juggle political ambition, an infant son with Down syndrome and a pregnant unwed daughter, these women say that maternal grit is not enough to win their votes.

Waitress Judy Artice, "Miss Judy," as she is known at Glisan's roadside diner, declared Palin "the perfect candidate" after watching her Wednesday speech. That said, Artice had already decided that her vote would go to the first candidate who mentioned gasoline prices.

"And -- I'll be danged -- it was Obama," Artice, 46, said between servings of liver and onions during the lunch rush.

Both campaigns have signaled that these blue-collar hamlets could be where the election will be decided, an assessment made even more likely when the nation's unemployment rate hit a five-year high in August.

McCain dominates among white men, and Obama, who would be the first black president, is all but sweeping the black vote, most polls show. That leaves white women, the so-called Clinton base, as one of the most sought-after voting groups left on the table.

We will monitor this as the campaign proceeds.

Sarah Palin and the Separation of Church and State

The New York Times reports on Sarah Palin's religious background. She has a literal approach to the Bible, which is her right as an individual, but I'd like to get some feedback about whether this could be problematic for an elected official. Could she make decisions biased in favor of a particular religious viewpoint, or could the country benefit from having someone in the vice presidency who reflects a biblically based value system?

From the NYT story:

Ms. Palin’s religious life — what she believes and how her beliefs intersect or not with her life in public office in Alaska — has become a topic of intense interest and scrutiny across the political spectrum as she has risen from relative obscurity to become Senator John McCain’s running mate.

Interviews with the two pastors she has been most closely associated with here in her hometown — she now attends the Wasilla Bible Church, though she keeps in touch with Mr. Riley and recently spoke at an event at his former church — and with friends and acquaintances who have worshipped with her point to a firm conclusion: her foundation and source of guidance is the Bible, and with it has come a conviction to be God’s servant.
...

“The churches that Sarah has attended all believe in a literal translation of the Bible,” Ms. Kincaid said. “Her principal ethical and moral beliefs stem from this.”

Prayer, and belief in its power, is another constant theme, Ms. Kincaid said, in what she has witnessed in Ms. Palin. “Her beliefs are firm in the power of prayer — let’s put it that way,” she said.

Maria Comella, a spokeswoman for the McCain-Palin campaign, said Ms. Palin had been baptized Roman Catholic as an infant, but declined to comment further.

“We’re not going to get into discussing her religion,” she said.

Did the Blogosphere Drive the Palin Selection?

Maybe.

Here's a blog, started in February 2007, which has pushed her selection.

Draft Sarah Palin for Vice President.

What does this tell us about contemporary politics?

A Few Takes on Palin's Speech

She looked liked she belonged--liked she had been there before--and did not step on any of her lines, which is what she had to do. No mistakes. She threw red meat to the social conservatives and gave them something to be happy about, but I want to see what the polls tell us about how moderates react to her.

Here are takes from three people smarter than me:

- Fred Barnes
- James Fallows
- Gloria Steinem

Spinning the Palin Selection

Now that John McCain has made his selection of a Vice Presidential candidate, pundits are figuring out what this says about McCain. Here's input from McCain's hometown newspaper, the Arizona Republic, summary below:

6 thing the Palin pick says about "maverick" McCain:

1- He's desperate
2- He's willing to gamble - big time
3- He's worried about the political implications of his age
4- He's not worried about the actuarial implications of his age
5- He's worried about his conservative base
6- At the end of the day, McCain is still McCain

Let's comment in class.