[j. earl carter]

the anti-feminist right wing ...-- are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president.

Here is the real genius of the Palin VP pick:

It gives the appearance of being an affirmative action ploy. It is not. I don't think it was possible for McCain to pick a male version of Gov. Palin (relative unknown who is strongly conservative),and there really weren't any popular candidates who were conservative enough (Rudy, Romney, et al.). The fake affirmative action angle gave McCain cover to name a real, honest-to-god, middle american as his VP choice.

[syriacus]

The fake affirmative action angle gave McCain cover to name a real, honest-to-god, middle american as his VP choice.

Yes. I was not enthused about any of the other candidates for VP.