First reactions

In brief -- because I'm on vacation in Portland and there are more interesting things to do than sit inside and blog -- I think McCain's choice is both cynical and dumb. Cynical, for very obvious reasons. Dumb, because for every Clinton holdout he gains, he's gonna lose two evangelicals who can't stand the thought of anyone that close to that office, regardless of politics, who doesn't possess the prerequisite dangly bits. And dumb, further, because even the women who, er, announced that they'd have to think twice if Schlafly were to run...mm, let's just say: she is; we have; and, on further reflection: we won't.

What's more interesting to me is how the tropes are already emerging, from all sides: beauty queen. Bimbo. Bad mother. (Yes, I understand that she has a special-needs infant and will be away from home quite a bit. But jeez louise, does this baby not have a father?) And, of course, the rush to call her "Sarah." I winced my way all through the Clinton campaign's emphasis on her first name, while understanding, of course, why she could neither use "Clinton" nor suddenly revert to "Rodham." The current veep pick has no such issues. People: if we're talking about Obama, Biden, McCain...for god's sake, let's call the woman Palin, shall we?

Two real pitfalls here, off the top of my head: One, Obama is better off keeping his attacks focused on McCain (which, bonus, is easy to do). A return to the sophomoric snarkery that was aimed at Clinton is not going to play well with those of us who plan to hold our noses and support him, and ads that hint at menopausal mayhem are just going to make me reach for the write-in ballot. Two, I fear that when Biden chews Palin up and spits her out -- which he can do, will do, and, frankly, ought to do -- people on both sides of the aisle are going to shake their heads and note the unsuitability of women for high elected office. That's just the facts of ingroup/outgroup categorization, and the nature of internalized oppression.