McCain Picks Sarah Palin Former Ms. Alaska Runner Up

John McCain picks a token woman, Alaska governor Sarah Palin. She was a mayor just three years ago and was elected governor in 2006. Is she ready to be Commander in Chief? They've been hammering Obama, after all. 

Celebrity? She was former Miss Alaska runner up. 

Does this mean they're pretty sure they're going to lose so they're rolling the dice? Does McCain really think there are enough PUMAs? 

Alaska?

She's a drill here, drill now proponent. Here's her letter to Sen. Harry Reid, pushing for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. 

I'll need to look into Palin's biography. 
Here's a blogger who's been an advocate for Palin. Here's her post on how to beat Joe.
The reasoning:

1) A energetic, young, fresh face who will energize the electorate
2) Not connected to the current administration
3) Pro-Life
4) Pro-Gun
5) A woman or minority to counter Hillary or Obama and put to rest the idea that America only elects white males

One of the first names I found that fit these qualifications was that of Sarah Palin, the recently elected Governor of Alaska. I knew that I had stumbled upon a fantastic candidate for national office, but I kept looking in the hope that I could find other potentially viable choices. However, after looking at every GOP governor, senator, and congressperson, I found that Palin had only become more appealing.

Here's more:

She eats moose burgers and rides snowmobiles and is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association. Most important of all, the residents of Alaska believe in her ability to lead. Palin has a bright future and is young enough to be able to set her sights as high as she likes. We’ll be watching this woman and will be anticipating even greater things in her future.

Frankly, I'm just glad it's not Mitt Romney.

Rush Warns McCain About Shiny GOP Brand

McCain is being bullied by his own base. He's just being molded and shaped by everyone. I wonder who dresses him in the morning.

CNN: Rush Limbaugh, the popular conservative talk-show host who's long been lukewarm to John McCain's candidacy, warned the Arizona senator Tuesday picking a pro-choice running mate could devastate the Republican Party.

Referencing reports McCain advisors are seriously considering both former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge and former Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman — both of whom favor abortion rights — Limbaugh said picking either of those men would ensure a GOP defeat, and damage the party’s brand for years to come.

"How about some discussion from the McCain campaign about a conservative who can be counted on across the board, who can help lead the country in the right direction?" said Limbaugh. "Who can help rebuild the Republican Party? Lieberman can’t do that — and rebuild the conservative movement? McCain nor Lieberman nor Ridge can do that.”

McCain to Announce Vice President on His Birthday

Politico says he's going to announce the day after Obama's acceptance speech to try and steal some thunder. Good move. Politico also says McCain's testing the waters for a pro-choice candidate, Tom Ridge, perhaps. Wonder how Pastor Rick would feel about that.

Politico: MCCAIN VEEP ANNOUNCEMENT A WEEK FROM FRIDAY (unless he pulls a fast one on his staff): The senator plans to celebrate his 72nd birthday by naming his running mate at a huge rally in the battleground state of Ohio on Aug. 29 – the morning after the Obama stadium spectacular. The campaign has begun building a crowd of 10,000 for Dayton, Ohio, and McCain is scheduled to appear with his running mate at a large-scale event in Pennsylvania shortly thereafter (perhaps the next day).

McCain friends emphasized that he talks about the decision with almost no one, and could even change the announcement plans and go sooner. 'McCain views this as the one decision that he has total, utter, nonnegotiable control over,' one campaign official said. But the strategy calls for an early-morning announcement to try to suppress Obama's bounce coming out of his convention. 'You're going to own the weekend,' a McCain official said.

In other republican news, the respectable ones are getting angry at the wingnuts like Jerome Corsi:

Peter Wehner, a former White House aide who remains in President Bush's extended brain trust, uses a post on Commentary Magazine's blog to denounce what he called 'The Obama Smears' in Jerome Corsi's best seller 'The Obama Nation': 'Corsi's approach to politics is both destructive and self-destructive. If Senator Obama loses, he should lose on the merits: his record in public life and his political philosophy. And while it's legitimate to take into account Obama's past associations with people like the Reverend Jeremiah Wright–especially for someone like Obama, about whom relatively little is known–it wrong and reckless to throw out unsubstantiated charges and smears against Senator Obama.

Thousands to Protest at Republican Convention

Minnesota Latinos for Obama

The republicans picked Minnesota to hold their convention, thinking that it's a toss-up state. 

Tim Pawlenty may be governor and he may be McCain's vice president, but Minnesotans are progressive as a whole and no way will Minnesota vote for McCain. No way. 

CNN: 

Tens of thousands -- from anarchists and immigrants to advocates for the poor -- plan to use the streets outside the Xcel Center as a national podium, transforming downtown St. Paul into a marketplace of ideas.

"There are some groups that are going to be here just because this is a big stage," said Chuck Samuelson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota. "But I think the majority of groups are here because they really want to demonstrate to the delegates that they want to see some sort of changes in the party platform."

Protesters and police expect the opening day of next month's four-day convention to be the biggest -- with a huge anti-war march.

McCain and Bobby Jindal

Update 7-23: Looks like Novak was snookered. Jindal says no, he won't be McCain's vice president. 

Update: Robert Novak, who apparently broke this news, says McCain might be playing him.
Could McCain make his vice presidential announcement this week? He said he was going to announce something remotely exciting while Obama was away. If I were him, I'd announce something exciting as soon as possible. I hope he chooses anyone but Rudy and Mitt. Bobby Jindal is probably a good choice.

CNN: Adding fuel to speculation is a planned Wednesday meeting between McCain and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. Some analysts say the Arizona senator is seriously considering the 37-year-old Republican for his running mate.

News of the meeting, first reported by the Washington Post, comes amid reports that the McCain campaign was considering naming the vice presidential candidate this week in an effort to steal the media spotlight from Sen. Barack Obama's trip overseas.

Bobby Jindal tidbits: 2. Born born Piyush Jindal in Baton Rouge in 1971, he gave himself the nickname Bobby—after the youngest son on The Brady Bunch—when he was 4.

3. Raised a Hindu, Jindal converted to Catholicism as a teenager. As a young convert, he wrote of the emotional and intellectual struggles of his spiritual journey in several articles that were published in the New Oxford Review, a Catholic magazine.
I wonder if he'll get ripped by the republican extremists for his "funny" name and being a former Hindu.
Rush and Newt like him. Interesting.