Perfect picks

I’m a pretty happy guy in general, but I couldn’t be happier with the vice-presidential selections of the major party candidates. I was thrilled to hear that Barack Obama had nominated that loveable gaffe machine, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., a 36-year-long testament to “politics as usual” and the very definition of a Washington insider. Biden might not add a lot to the campaign’s theme of “change,” but he sure does represent a lot of hope; that is, the Democrats “hope” he can make it until November without saying anything too outrageously stupid or getting caught plagiarizing.

But then, as if the gods wished to make up for shattering my hopes of a Fred Thompson presidency, John McCain announced Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Fellow Republicans, Palin represents the bright future of our party. The GOP is the home of the American values of limited government, freedom, equality of opportunity and the rule of law. The national Republican leadership has lost sight of these values in recent years by recklessly growing government and expanding deficit spending, and by compromising with, rather than defeating, the Left.

Unfortunately, Palin’s boss, McCain, has been on the wrong side of many issues throughout his career in the Senate. But there are several rising stars in the Republican Party – Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, R-6th, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele and Palin among them – eager to undo the damage of the last decade and lead our party and country in the conservative principles that have made us strong and prosperous.

In fact, even though McCain isn’t the conservative hero we’d like him to be, his choice of a fresh, energetic voice from the right wing of the party shows he’s willing to listen to conservatives. There were several moderates and liberals that reportedly made McCain’s short list, but his choice of a true conservative will help steer the party in the “right” direction for coming elections. Palin is indescribably more desirable as a presidential prospect for 2012 than, say, Joe Lieberman.

Palin has a strong, if relatively brief, record of fiscal responsibility and reform in Alaska, a state which is perhaps most famously known in the political world as the lair of the rotten Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, a champion of wasteful pork barrel spending. Palin took on the state RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) to bring about huge budget cuts and to fight corruption within her own party. She’s also great on energy policy; it would be wonderful to have a vocal Alaskan at the national level who wants to open up the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for drilling.

The fact that she’s an attractive woman is just icing on the cake. As Rush Limbaugh so rightly noted, “We’re the ones that have the babe on the ticket.”

Before the VP announcement last Friday, I was much more anti-Obama than pro-McCain, but now I’m finally (and unexpectedly) supporting McCain.
So watch out, Obamaniacs: The GOP conservative base is finally excited. Last Thursday night when he accepted the nomination, Obama might have made history; but as of Friday morning, he is history.