...and McCain/(Pay-lyn): To remember last name, just think "Van Halen"

Thursday evening was a great pleasure to witness. Barack Obama officially became the first major party candidate to receive the nomination for President of our nation. I had some misgivings about the event. Although I have no problem with Obama whatsoever, I was slightly offended by his choice to give the speech in the grand manner he did. It seemed arrogant and over the top. If you had tuned in to the firework finale at the end, you might have even mistaken it for the closing ceremonies of the Olympics. Anyway, I didn't the decision. It's as if Obama simply wanted to display how much of a spectacle he is. That being said I can understand it. It was a night that will easily make it's way into our nation's history. It was also a great attempt (and a successful one I think) to rally the Democratic Party and secure as many unsure Hilary voters as he could. There were few specifics in his speech, but that's to be expected. Was it mostly emotion and pomp? Yeah, but it needed to be. I'll give Obama the benefit of a doubt and believe that his grand show was put on to celebrate the historical significance of the night...not to place himself on his own pedestal.

Again, those are small tiffs compared once again to the undeniable fact that what the country witnessed Thursday night was momentously significant. It was a wonderful opportunity for both parties to set aside their biases and celebrate in the triumph that is Presidential Nominee Barack Obama.

Once it was all over however, my focus immediately went back to who John McCain had picked as his Vice Presidential running-mate. He made the right choice not to leak his pick that night, and even sent out a congratulatory add to Obama, allowing him his night to make history. Ever since McCain became the presumptive nominee, I was praying he would choose Mitt Romney. I liked Romney very much and voted for him back in the California primary, but of course he dropped out the very next day. I reasoned that there was absolutely no better choice.

I was absolutely...wrong.

I spent yesterday with the family at Universal Studios (fun place, I'd never been there), and headed straight to a junior high youth event when I got home. Before all that however, I had woken up at 6:15 AM to see if any of the news organizations had broken the pick yet. It reminded me of Christmas morning as a kid, I just couldn't wait. They hadn't, so I got my pillow, sheets, and comforter to hunker down on the couch until they had. To my surprise and dismay, Fox and CNN were confirming that Romney, Pawlenty, and Huckabee were not chosen. Then discussion began about this female Alaskan governor who had very possibly landed in Ohio near where McCain would appear with his nominee. Only about 45 minutes later was it confirmed that Alaskan governor Sarah Palin was McCain's choice for VP. The newscasters couldn't even pronounce her name, nobody knew anything about her, and everyone, including me, was shocked. I was also pissed, but after thinking through exactly all that this choice meant...my disappointment turned into full-fledged support and enthusiasm for this republican ticket. Let me list out the strategy for you.

Reasons why Sarah Palin was a brilliant choice:

-The first and most immediate reason being that this completely wiped Obama from the news. Just hours after making a historic speech that will be remembered for ages to come (yes, it will), McCain managed to obliterate all discussion of it from both sides. The truth is any pick would have done this to some extent. If he had picked Romney, it would have been top news, but only for a short time. The choice of Palin however, an unknown conservative governor from Alaska, demanded full attention from everyone at all times. McCain had to have known exactly what he was doing. Sending out his message to Barack the night before knowing that he was hours away from stealing all his thunder! Haha, it's brilliant, and it makes me laugh. Make no mistake however, it's a temporary snuff. Obama's speech will maintain it's stature in the long run.

-Palin is a woman! Obama just suffered through one testy week at the DNC as many of the Hilary supporters were threatening not to vote for him. Now, just as he's feeling relieved and confident in rounding up those supporters, McCain come out with a woman VP. If I'm Obama I'm nervous and pissed by the decision. It certainly won't capture the majority of Hilary supporters, but it can only help McCain and hurt Obama.

-It takes away the monopoly the democratic party seems to have had on being the party of change and reform; the party open to expanding the boundaries of traditional politics. Obama has been preaching change, and he picks an older, established liberal senator. McCain has been painted as being outdated and out of touch, and he picks a young, vibrant woman who many seem to identify with, making history for the GOP. Obama was the only one with history to be made on his side if the people voted for him. Now McCain joins him.

-It breaks from the notion that McCain is old-Washington. Palin is the furthest from Washington on both sides. Not to mention the GOP has no real bench, which means assuming Palin does very well, she could be the front runner for the republican party the next chance she gets.

-Perhaps most important, the choice pleases both independents and conservatives. How McCain managed to get out of this mess, I don't know, but he did. He was praised on one side for being a maverick and an unconventional politician. While on the other side he was torn apart for not being conservative enough. Palin greatly satisfies both parties. She's conservative, yet a very unconventional choice. He's satisfied the Republican base while maintaining his reputation as a maverick with the independents (who will ultimately decide who wins this race). It's McCain's way of saying, "Hey, I'm still John McCain here."

These are just a few solid points to be made at just how brilliantly executed all of this was. I was not enthused at all with McCain's campaign before this. Obama was capturing the votes of a lot of people while I felt he was just passively sitting back. His choice of Governor...er, former governor Palin proves however that he is a brilliant political player, and can out strategize Obama even in the face of the freshman senator making history just hours before. Not an easy task. I'm in full support of McCain/Palin. I'm ready to watch these two parties battle it out, and I think McCain waited until now to declare, "game on."

This race just turned into one giant chess match. Obama called "check" on Thursday night with the entire democratic party behind him. I think McCain may have managed in one move to call "check-mate."