Kirsten Powers is one of the rational liberals on the national scene. Her column in this morning’s NY Post is additional proof that she’s got her head screwed on straight. Here’s my favorite line in the column:

Hmm: Palin isn’t running for president; she’s running for vice president. Last time I checked, John McCain isn’t dying. And if experience is your worry, there’s plenty to worry about on the opposing ticket if, God forbid, something happens to Joe Biden.

AMEN, Kirsten. That thought should scare the living bejeebers out of thoughtful voters all across the nation. It’s impossible to forget Sen. Obama’s deer-in-the-headlights look when Russia invaded Georgia. If not for that, Obama likely would’ve picked Kathleen Sebelius as his running mate:

“He really wanted [Kansas Gov. Kathleen] Sebelius,” says one Obama insider with knowledge of the Democrat candidate’s vetting process. “And if our European tour had played better here at home, she might have been the pick.”

But, says the insider, the campaign’s internal polling indicated what the public polling indicated, that Obama failed in his European sojourn to build out his foreign policy credentials. “We needed the foreign policy on the bottom of the ticket more than we want to admit,” says the insider.

That isn’t the only wisdom found in Ms. Powers’ column. Here’s another great tidbit of wisdom:

Palin’s challenge is to avoid any major gaffes that give the media the excuse to expand on its narrative-in-the-making that she’s a ditzy beauty queen from Nowheresville who was only chosen because of her ovaries.

Yes, being a woman was a factor in the choice, but fully in keeping with the way smart veep picks are always made: She energizes the ticket with the whiff of change and could attract disgruntled Hillary voters. And now the Democratic ticket isn’t the only one that can lay claim to making hsitory.

Yes, her being a woman played a significant role in Sen. McCain picking her. So what? That isn’t her only qualification. The fact that she took on the corrupt Alaskan GOP old boys network and beat them is impossible to ignore. There isn’t a reform-minded conservative that doesn’t think that that’s an important quality. It’s obvious that it meant alot to Sen. McCain.

There’s good reason to pick a proven reformer: people see Washington as being badly broken. That shows up in the right track/wrong track number shows that 80+ percent of Americans think we’re heading in the wrong direction. Status quo politics won’t cut it this year. Sarah Palin is a genuine anti-status quo candidate. In fact, the McCain-Palin ticket is the only one committed to reforming Washington.

Yes, I know that Sen. Obama has talked endlessly about changing Washington but he’s never mentioned a single specific what he’d change. As I said last night, change and reform aren’t the same thing.

In light of the Obama campaign’s attempt to silence investigator Stanley Kurtz, it isn’t impossible to make a case that Sen. Obama would abuse the federal government’s powers to silence his critics.

The rest of her personal story is just as compelling: a working mother with five kids (one on the way to Iraq) and a husband in the Steelworkers Union. She’s gorgeous and feminine but she hunts and fishes. She’s charismatic and a good speaker. She’s the kind of woman you’d like to have a beer with.

Don’t think that she won’t sell in blue collar Michigan and in churches across Ohio and Pennsylvania. The fact that she views her Down’s Syndrome infant as a “gift from God” screams “I walk the walk” to pro-life Catholics and evangelicals. It’s even enough to make Dick Morris get a little mushy. You can’t get more pro-life than that.

Don’t think that that won’t matter in Virginia and North Carolina, too.

The fact that she’s proudly identified herself as a hockey mom gives her a distinct advantage with suburban women, too. (Can you picture Joe Biden appealing to these women? I can’t.)

Finally, there’s this observation:

I actually buy the Obama camp’s original argument that Washington experience isn’t the only thing that matters. Life experience, thoughtfulness, intellectual curiosity, a willingness to listen and learn, shared values and an ability to inspire and communicate, all count as much.

I’ll finish this post where I started it. I agree with Kirsten on this. How can I not when I’ve argued that critical thinking ability is more important than experience? Sarah Palin’s authenticity shines through whether we’re talking about her taking on corruption within her party or whether we’re talking about her living out her pro-life convictions.

Unless I’m misreading the polling, I’d say Sen. McCain has made a potentially brilliant choice.

Technorati Tags: Sarah Palin, Pro Life, Hockey Mom, John McCain, Reformer, The Base, Christians, Suburban Voters, GOTV, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

1. If you think the Rezko deal stinks, wait till the Daley Machine gets it’s fingers into All of the federal dollars slushing around Washington DC……

   Comment by Doug — September 1, 2008 @ 4:49 am

2. GREAT POINT!!!

   Comment by Gary Gross — September 1, 2008 @ 5:27 am