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BY MARK SCHOEFF JR.
WASHINGTON - In his best-selling book “Blink,” consultant and acclaimed big-thinker Malcolm Gladwell posits that people make their best decisions by not over thinking them–essentially, by going with their gut instincts.
Perhaps the biggest “blink” in Sen. John McCain’s life, selecting Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate on the GOP 
presidential ticket, looks like a good call after Palin’s rousing speech on Wednesday at the Republican National Convention.
By all accounts, McCain settled on Palin as his choice just a few days before introducing her to the nation last Friday. Controversy is now swirling about the extent to which McCain vetted Palin. After a barrage of negative press coverage — about a brewing political scandal in Alaska and the pregnancy of her teenage daughter — and rising doubts about her qualifications to be vice president, Palin stood and delivered in St. Paul.
Under extraordinary pressure, she simultaneously electrified and relieved the GOP delegates gathered in Minnesota. She demonstrated maternal warmth, steely resolve, empathy, charm, toughness and confidence.
With Palin, McCain’s chances of becoming president moved from “probably not” after Democratic nominee Barack Obama’s historic acceptance speech in Denver last week to “maybe” today. Two white males once again gracing the GOP ticket would have doomed it to a double-digit loss in a year dominated by “change.”
Palin shakes things up. She showed particular fluency on one of the top issues in the campaign — energy policy. She highlighted the understanding she’s developed by dealing with the topic as governor of Alaska.
But probably the most startling dimension of the speech was the alacrity with which she went after Obama. Palin, and her advisers, must have decided that the best defense against charges that she’s not qualified to be vice president is by going on offense and asserting that Obama lacks the background to be president.
In one of her most memorable lines of the evening, she said, “I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities.”
She has great stage presence and is a quick study. She looks as if she’ll hold her own in media interviews and in her upcoming debate with Obama’s running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, who called her “formidable.”
The question is whether she’ll be able to help McCain reach beyond the GOP’s conservative, small-town base. Will she be able to connect with blue-collar voters? Will she be able to attract suburban women who are not avid supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton but who could relate to this Alaskan governor who is trying to balance work and career?
One of the most popular adjectives supporters use to describe Palin is “authentic.” Certainly, she embodies a biography that many Americans can relate to — from being a parent to running a business to being involved in the PTA to dealing with family health care challenges.
But what Palin didn’t do on Wednesday was answer the most devastating attack Obama launched in his acceptance speech last week. He said that McCain “just doesn’t get it” when it comes to understanding the economic suffering gripping the country.
Palin didn’t lay out a coherent plan to revive the economy. She warned that Obama would usher in an era of higher taxes and activist government. But maybe those are the answers that Americans in desperate straits seek. Obama certainly thinks so.
It’s up to McCain to lay out a compelling alternative economic plan tonight. Despite the help he’s getting from Palin, it’s a job that only the person at the top of the ticket can do.
Schoeff writes for Howey Politics Indiana in Washington, D.C.
Tags: Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John McCain, Mark Schoeff Jr., Sarah Palin
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This entry was written by and posted on September 4, 2008 at 10:53 am and filed under Mark Schoeff Jr. Column. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
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