No Way This'll Work

The more I think about the Palin choice, the less I'm convinced it's going to work. She's so conservative, she's like a caricature of the Republican party. Member of the NRA, ties to "big oil" (I think; I'm going off stuff I heard), pro-life, evangelical Christian, tax cutting libertarian, wants creationism taught in the public schools. That's just the stuff off the top of my head. How could a registered female Democrat who is also an ardent supporter of Hilary Clinton possibly choose McCain simply because his VP is a woman? It's not like those supporters were indifferent to the issues; Hilary embodied a bundle of issues, not just a chromosome. Easily, the next President could pick a judge for the SCOTUS, even 2-3 depending on if it's Obama or McCain, and if a woman voted for McCain to spite Obama, even though she is a registered Democrat and presumably prochoice, she could very well be affecting abortion policy. If Obama is President, then most likely he'll just be replacing the liberal judges who are so old, unless Kennedy retires (who is the swing vote). But if McCain wins, the SCOTUS composition could change dramatically, assuming he was willing to appoint some conservative judge to the court who could also make it past the Senate (which is highly unlikely). Still, point being, I just can't see a voter doing that. I think when the dust settles, Palin is going to push a lot of these Hilary supporters over into Obama's arms.

Update: Instapundit quotes Doc Searls who says the same thing: ""Struck me as pretty smart, though maybe a little too smart for McCain’s own good. . . . Also FWIW, I know a lot of Hillary partisans, and if anything the Palin selection helps them rationalize voting for Obama." I feel really the same about it. It seems like a crucially smart decision, and kind of reveals something about McCain's judgment (to me, good judgment) that maybe we didn't know, but no way is it going to work. I suspect he's handed Obama the Presidency the more I think about it.