The "Other Side" Grabs the Headlines in the Race for President

Barack Obama's nomination for the presidency by the Democratic Party didn't surprise me.

His selection of fellow U.S. Senator Joe Biden as running mate was a mild shocker.

But I wasn't prepared at all for today's announcement by Senator John McCain, who will officially become the Republican Party's nominee for president at next week's convention.

All of us at News Channel 7 wondered who McCain's choice for vice president would be.

Mitt Romney? Perhaps now-independent Joe Lieberman, who was John Kerry's running mate four years ago?

McCain bowled us all over.

44-year-old Sarah Palin (pronounced PAY-lin), governor of Alaska for the past two years, and a councilwoman and mayor in a small town before that, is McCain's choice.

Palin has been married for 20 years. She is pro-life, mother of five children, including a Down Syndrome child born in April. Her son is in the Army and about to be deployed to Iraq. She's a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and likes to hunt. She also plays hockey. Palin has been a sports commentator. She is a former beauty pageant contestant.

"A pistol-packing, hockey-playing woman," as I heard FOX News commentator Karl Rove describe Palin today.

A Washington outsider.

And a whale of a surprise... to just about everyone.

McCain called Palin "the running mate who can best help me shake up Washington... She's exactly who this country needs to help me fight the same old Washington politics of me first and country second."

Governor Palin praised Democrats Hillary Clinton, who gave Obama a hard run for the Democratic nomination, and Geraldine Ferraro, who was running mate to Walter Mondale in 1984.

Clemson University political scientist Dr. Bruce Ransom tells me those comments were a transparent attempt to win Hillary's supporters.

"The question I have is whether it's realistic to expect those women, those 18 million voters who supported Senator Clinton in the Democratic primary will be drawn to the (GOP) ticket now that (Palin) is on it. I think (Palin's) pro-life position is a real impediment to that taking place... To predicate a (VP) selection on that basis is very risky... a high-risk, high-stakes game," says Ransom.

Dr. Ransom also calls McCain's selection of Palin "a Dan Quayle type decision. But Bush (# 1) did go on to victory. History is repeating itself in a sense."

Ransom tells me if McCain was determined to have a woman on the ticket, a better choice might've been Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, "a known quantity."

Ransom says instead of getting a bounce in the polls, choosing Palin may put McCain on the defensive "because he'll have to do all that explaining."

"When you select your vice president, it should be someone people recognize and someone they can see stepping into the president position if it comes to that set of circumstances."

We can't forget that McCain is 72 years old. A tough, healthy man... but still 72.

McCain also loses a key arguing point against Obama on the experience issue, and the Obama campaign jumped on that today, issuing this statement: "Today John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency." Democratic New York Senator Chuck Schumer says putting Palin on the GOP ticket "puts to rest any argument about inexperience on the Democratic team."

Palin has experience running a very unique state. Running a country and dealing with the world are different matters. She'll have to do a lot of homework to prepare herself.

It boils down to what voters are looking for in this contest. Do they want a team that thinks as they do? Looks like them? Has similar life experiences? Or is it just a matter of whether there is an "R" or a "D" beside their name on the ballot?

What a week in this presidential race. The line in the sand has been drawn more deeply.

Let the debates begin!

And may the best man/man or best man/woman win!