The Battle Lines Are Drawn

Politics is a fascinating beast if you take the time to study it. As a former Political Science major [who changed majors because I missed a midterm because I wasn't going to class - whoops], I've always been intrigued by the field. I feel a little guilty because I haven't been following the Democratic National Convention very closely this week. I hear that there have been some amazing speeches and I'm hopeful that I'll still be able to track them all down online to watch in the near future.

But that's not the reason for this post.

I just opened Yahoo to discover that John McCain has selected his VP candidate and, in the process, ensured that whoever wins come November, history will most assuredly be made.

And don't think for a second that McCain doesn't know that.

I'm not going to belittle Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's sure-to-be-impressive resume for the second highest post in the land buuuuuuut...

Well, if ever a selection reeked of a political maneuver, it's this one. And that's not to say that Obama didn't do the same thing in selecting Biden - because of course, he did, but it was a little more subtle. Biden has worlds of experience in Washington and has experience in the areas where Obama is likely to take a hit - so that makes them a good match.

Without having done much research this morning, McCain's selection strikes me as a blatant grab for Hillary Clinton's supporters - or more specifically, those who supported Hillary because they felt, as a woman, they had an obligation to do so to put a woman in the White House. This move by McCain smells like him trying to grab that sense of obligation and steer it in his direction. After all, we've heard for weeks now that Hillary's voters haven't swayed to Obama yet [it's bitter grapes in my opinion - they'll see the light before it's over] so McCain making a final grab for them makes perfect sense.

It's quite genius and whether you like it or not, you at least have to respect the initial brilliance behind it. But it's quite transparent so if she turns out to be a flop or grossly underqualified, it could be the final nail in the political coffin of the former POW.

I saw somewhere this morning that 67 days remain before the election. That seems unreal to me. The drawn-out primaries really shrunk down the actual campaign time to where it hasn't even felt like an election year so far. But I'd imagine it's going to get kicked into overdrive right about now.

Should be a fun run. I'm looking forward to it.