The Sarah Palin Drone

John McCain might wish he vetted her earlier. In what will always be remembered as his first Presidential "decision" (should he win in November), McCain jumped the shark with his naming of an unexpected winner in the Veepstakes rat race: Sarah Palin.

Now, the Republicans have an anti-gay marriage, pro-life, pro-abstinence education VP candidate, who also happens to be a lifelong NRA member. She's a winner in the eyes of the neo-Cons, but in a close election, it seems strange for McCain to openly embrace the GOP's base issues and appease neo-Cons over targeting undecided and independent voters. As for pulling in Hillary Clinton supporters, Palin is the polar (shout out to Alaska!) opposite. After all, most of Hillary's female backers applauded her stance on Women's rights and health issues.

The pick certainly drew much attention away from McCain's 72nd birthday last Friday. Still, the Labor Day weekend provided a bumpy ride for Sarah Palin, who revealed a few skeletons that were hiding in her closet. Her 17 year old daughter is pregnant and unwed. She's obviously keeping the baby and marrying the child's father since any other action would derail the GOP ticket and her mother's career. It's not so much of a problem that her daughter is pregnant, but Palin still believes (and wholeheartedly) that abstinence-only sex education, an oxymoron itself, is effective.

All of these characteristics and the hypocrisy of her beliefs could potentially leave voters feeling cold about Palin's potential.