Thoughts on Sarah Palin

I haven't said anything yet about what I think about Sarah Palin and I thought it was time to break the silence ahead of her speech tonight.

No one can argue that Palin is likeable. She's "normal"; she's easy to identify with for many people because she isn't far removed from the life that the rest of us lead.

And therein is her greatest weakness. Nobody really knows whether or not Palin is capable of leading this nation or even serving as right-hand-woman to the leader. While I don't think this is a problem, it is a question that voters rightly want answered. Much as Obama needs to work harder than McCain to prove that he's experienced enough to lead this nation, Palin will have to work that much harder than Biden to prove she's a capable VP (assuming anyone is still following the VPs a week from now).

Typically VP candidates fill the presidential candidate's weaknesses, bringing something to the table that the presidential candidate doesn't have. Palin does this in the following ways:

1.) She's a woman.
2.) She's not entrenched in Washington.
3.) She has strong conservative support.
4.) She readily identifies with rural and middle class America

McCain is weak in all four of these areas. However, with the possible exception of the second bullet point, these are all strictly political reasons (unless you think a female perspective is an important asset) that don't tell us a lot about what she'll bring to the table once in Washington.

That's not to say Obama's pick wasn't political either. Obama's advantage over Palin in experience is small, with just four years of national exposure in the Senate, half of which has been spent running for president or on book tours. Obama needed someone on his ticket who would help detract from that inexperience. Senator Biden fit the bill. He's been entrenched in Washington for years.

However, Senator Biden's years of experience would also presumably serve Obama well in office. He's also a policy wonk who would serve as a trusted adviser to Obama. I don't think anyone knows what kind of an adviser Palin would make. It's not necessarily a problem, it's just a huge unknown that Palin has to deal with and Biden doesn't.

So far I've found myself agreeing with Palin politically more often than not, for what it's worth. The move seems to have been a political win for McCain so far. Those who didn't like McCain on the left still don't. Those who didn't like McCain on the right now do. Those in the middle are still trying to figure everything out.

I'll be watching the vice presidential debate much more closely than I would have otherwise. I'll be watching Palin's speech tonight. I know what she brings to the table as a political candidate, and I think it will help McCain. But I want to know what she would bring to the table once she hits Capitol Hill.

At the end of the day, this race is about the leading candidates. But I'm still anxious to learn more about what non-political campaign assets McCain thought Palin would bring to Washington.