MCCAIN TAKES UP HIS SWORD AND SHIELD...

"You can tell from our faces how ecstatic we are about our convention bounce."

If the story of Odysseus teaches us anything, it is this: Never underestimate an old, experienced warrior.

John McCain did that lesson proud yesterday by choosing Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. Disbelieve any swipes you see in the lame-stream media, folks, this was a MASTER-STROKE. At once energizing the conservative base (that includes me!) and carrying out a massive poaching mission for Hillary voters and independent feminists...BRILLIANT!!

Check out the expressions (above) on Biden and Obama when they learned about the Palin choice at Monaca, PA... Priceless!! They each look as if they've been kicked in the stomach 3 or 4 times...Because Gov. Palin turns around all their stupid little slogans right back at them, except that she is a truly mature person who has served in executive positions (actually more than anyone on either ticket), and fought entrenched interests (from her own party!) successfully.

Oh, and did I mention that she CLINGS TO HER GUNS??!!

I've certainly fired plenty of shots at Sen. McCain here, and don't back down from any of them. But this pick answers the one question that bothered me more than any other: DOES MCCAIN REALLY WANT TO WIN THIS THING? As none other than Peggy Noonan noted a few months ago, it appeared that John McCain was really running to win the GOP nomination, and vindicate his loss in 2000...and then coast to a gracious loss to a "worthy" Democrat.

By picking Gov. Palin, John McCain has proved he really wants to win this thing.

"ALLLLLLL ABOARD!! THIS TRAIN IS BOUND FOR GLORY!"



UPDATE!!: Check out this awesome article from "Politico.com"--HARDLY a right-wing source! And note the little line about "ELITE" REPUBLICAN CONSULTANTS BAD-MOUTHING PALIN!! Who are these morons? How much you want to bet they are the representative Republicans trotted out by the lame-stream media 9 times out of 10?


Palin electrifies conservative base
By: Jonathan Martin
August 31, 2008 11:00 AM EST

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate has electrified conservative activists, providing a boost of energy to the GOP nominee-in-waiting from a key constituency that had been previously had been lukewarm — at best — about him.

By tapping the anti-abortion and pro-gun Alaska governor just ahead of his convention, which is set to start here Monday, McCain hasn’t just won approval from a skeptical Republican base — he’s ignited a wave of elation and emotion that has led some grass-roots activists to weep with joy.

Serious questions remain about McCain’s pick — exactly how much he knows about her and her positions, past and present, on key issues. But for the worker bee core of the party that is essential to any Republican victory, there are no doubts.

“I woke up and my e-mail was just going crazy,” said Charmaine Yoest, head of the legislative arm of Americans United for Life and a former top official in Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign. “And then when it was announced — it was like you couldn’t breathe.”

The media elite — as well as elite members of the GOP consulting community — have all but mocked Palin as a former small-town mayor with zero Washington experience. But that view of her totally misses the cultural resonance she carries to crucial Republican power centers and could not be more at odds with the jubilation felt among true believers that one of their own is on the ticket.

Palin, say conservative activists, has instantly changed how they feel about McCain’s campaign and spurred them to go to work for the Republican ticket.

First, though, they’re expressing their newfound fondness for McCain with their checkbooks. Since tapping Palin, the campaign has raised nearly $7 million online, according to McCain aides."

Read the whole beautiful thing here.