black man vs white woman
Even as cynical as I am, I think the idea that the McCain camp chose her for this reason is absolutely and completely ridiculous.
I also think it's incredibly hypocritical that, at least from my understanding of several criticisms, many seem to be insulted that McCain picked a woman as his running mate. For years people have been complaining that the Republican party always trotted out stodgy, old Protestant white men. So now they pick a woman, and suddenly they're accused of being condescending and sexist. How does that work?
It seems people are also trying to have it both ways with the experience argument. Palin is just as experienced as Obama, in fact she has actual experience in the executive branch of the government, which Obama does not. The Republicans obviously can't have it both ways either, and with the Palin announcement they have to own up to the fact that they were wrong about Obama's supposed "lack of experience" (something a party which endlessly feels the need to remind us is the "Party of Lincoln" really should hbutave avoided in the first place), but that doesn't mean the Democrats suddenly have clearance to blast her resume for being a heartbeat away from the presidency when their candidate, who will be IN the presidency, doesn't have a lengthier one.
Finally, I fail to see the argument that Palin was chosen just because she was a woman. There are numerous women in the Republican party with higher profiles than her (Jane Swift and Olympia Snowe come to mind). When you look at the slate of VP candidates, I think she was really the best available (actually, I'd probably consider her neck-and-neck with Pawlenty). Mitt Romney is divisive and incapable of seeming authentic, he gives off that used car salesman vibe. Plus it seems he and McCain just don't get along well. Huckabee is charismatic but remains stuck in the stone age (well, if he thought the stone age existed) and is far too conservative for independent voters. Ridge and Guiliani's support of abortion rights was never going to fly with the conservative base. Pawlenty would have been a good match, and he might have been able to deliver Minnesota (and I've actually had the pleasure of meeting him personally, he's a nice personable guy), though he's not the greatest campaigner and in public can seem a little bland, it would be hard for the base to get excited about him, which leaves it a toss-up between him and Palin. She had the most strengths and the fewest flaws of any of McCain's choices, and that's why she was picked. To say it's just to lure women voters is just yet another gross oversimplification in a presidential campaign that has already been drastically oversimplified.
My apologies for being longwinded. If you read the whole diatribe, you get an 'attaboy (or an 'attagirl).