Everyone has analyzed the career and beliefs of Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin to death already, but what's one more diary about her?
I think we can safely assume that just like the Pirates around this time of year, John McCain's packing it in. He got his reward for years of loyal service in the military, House, and Senate with his Presidential nomination, just like Bob Dole did in 1996.
Palin isn't going to win the Republicans the White House. What McCain did offer her is the political equivalent of a September callup in baseball.
Minor league baseball seasons end the first week of September, so major league teams call up players to the big league club during September to give them experience in the big leagues and see how they'll do against major-league competition when the team has already been eliminated from the pennant race.
A player who performs well during a September callup might make the big league club the next year.
Palin has little experience in politics, but she does have promise, and may be a force in Republican politics in the future.
Why not give her a chance to prove herself on a national stage when Obama has the momentum of a runaway freight train? If she doesn't embarrass herself, the Republicans have a potential candidate in 2012 or 2016, or a Senatorial candidate who can send and receive Internets without trouble.
It's also fun watching the Republicans panic, realizing that McCain just wants to play out the string and give Palin experience in a national campaign.