Palin To Significance 3

Sorry to keep going on about Sarah Palin. Well, actually I'm not sorry. Not half as sorry as Democrats could be come November.

Of the hundreds of stories on Palin that I've read since Friday, I'm astonished by the number of comments by readers to these articles who insist that her appointment is mere tokenism: a clumsy attempt by McCain to appease (among others) disaffected Hillary supporters and Republican women who are either undecided or who are going to vote for Obama.

Palin's appointment was no tokenism; and those (especially Republicans) intent on peddling this line are not only denying John McCain due credit, but are insulting their own intelligence.

But Palin is inexperienced, the critics bark. It's a very insipid and relative allegation. And so what, anyway? I can't speak French but that didn't stop me from visiting France!

Besides, inexperience can be a good thing. Who better than someone inexperienced, someone not jaded through having spent the past 300 years as a Senator, someone fresh and down-to-earth to change the way things are done. I'd love to be a fly on the wall when some Washington crony tells Palin: "if it ain't broken don't fix it." I hope she finds lots of "broken" things in Washington, as I'm sure she will.

Palin now needs to vindicate McCain's faith in her by selling herself like she's never done before. If she can pull it off come November, then McCain will go down as one of the most inspired Republican leaders in history.

The Chicago Tribune's editorial said that "Sarah Palin embodies John McCain's audacity of hope."

We will have to see, come November, whether the voters of America are as audacious as John McCain - and as visionary.