Fred On Sarah

Here is Fred Thompson's response to Sarah Palin:

"I am absolutely delighted by this selection. Once again, John McCain has shown that he is an independent thinker who paints in bold strokes. Sarah Palin is a conservative reformer with executive experience who will bring a breath of fresh air to Washington. She will be an ideal running mate for John McCain, and will make a major contribution to our country's future."

JASmius adds: He's not the only one, just looking at the Townhall RNC page.

Michael Medved (who was already a McCainiac) loves it for all the same reasons as the majority of the rest of us.  But he adds an interesting rebuttal to those few tightie-righties still fretting over Governor Palin undercutting McCain's "He's not ready" meme against the Golden Child:

Yes, this undermines McCain’s future use of the experience issue, but that’s almost certainly a good thing, too. The experience issue has never worked well in presidential elections: Gerald Ford tried it against a one-term Governor of Georgia (the worthless Jimmy Carter) and lost; Carter tried it against Reagan (no foreign policy experience as Governor of California!) and got wiped out; George H.W. Bush tried to make it stick against Bill Clinton and the result was the lowest percentage of the vote for a Republican candidate since Wiliam Howard Taft. The line McCain’s been using “He’s Not Ready to Lead” is still viable – and should emphasize a discussion of Obama’s policies, not his job history—his radicalism, not his resume. Meanwhile, we should invite comparisons of Governor Palin’s experience with Obama’s: won’t the PTA connect more with middle class voters than “community organizer,” and property tax-cutting small town mayor count more than slippery State Senator who voted “present” a disquieting proportion of the time?

In any event, both tickets now balance experience with youthful energy – but McCain is balancing it the right way, with the experience at the top.

In other words, Team Sith has spent the summer driving home, successfully, BO's lack of qualifications for the presidency.  That is half the battle; now he and Governor Palin can spend September and October making the case for why their combination of foreign policy savvy and experience, passion as "maverick" reformers and government-shrinkers, and domestic energy crusaders is the better choice for America's next four years, with the center-right base - now energized and motivated by a helluva lot more than just Obama-terror -  to propel them to victory.

Cisco Cotto thinks Palin's selection has won him the election:

For months hard-core conservatives have talked with me on the radio or via email and they have been conflicted.  McCain is sometimes with us, but other times against us.  At points it seems as though he is intenionally spitting in our collective eye.  We certainly don't want Obama, but is McCain all that much better?  While Obama has been able to harnass energy among his core and even some from new voters, the McCain campaign was looking as sleepy as Bob Dole's.  People actively engaged in GOP politics just weren't feeling it.

Then Sarah Palin walked on stage with McCain in Dayton.

Immediately my email box was jammed and my cell phone started ringing.  Conservatives were cheering.  Some had tears in their eyes just hours after mocking the Obama loyalists for doing the same thing.  With the pick of Sarah Palin, John McCain has energized his base in a way that he could not have done with any other candidate.  Romney?  Pawlenty?  Huckabee?  Meg Whitman?  Only Palin with her history and life experience could have generated this much excitement from the conservative base. [emphasis added]

I don't know if Sarah Palin will carry John McCain to the White House.  But she's probably the only #2 who could drag him as far as Ready Freddie could have.

Plus I can't wait to see Miss Wasilla 1984 sitting on the House dais above President McCain at the next State of the Union show next to that Nora Desmond reject.