Random notes from the political scene:

 

* The McCain campaign's announcement of a vice presidential choice on Friday morning was a stroke of genius. Not necessarily in who he picked...the mere fact that the choice was revealed the morning after Obama's acceptance speech was a brilliant communication strategy, because it totally knocked day-after coverage of the speech from the screen. You could flip around on any of the cable news channels that morning, and virtually no one was talking about Obama or the Democrats...it was all about McCain's choice. That totally blunted any 'bump' the Democrats might have gotten from the rock-star-like performance in Denver.

 

* At first, when I heard that Palin was the choice, I thought that the other Palin--Michael Palin of "Monty Python's Flying Circus"--would have a better chance than a first term governor from Alaska. But given how the far-right, conservative base of the GOP has raved about the choice, it seems McCain finally did something to get that wing of the party to support him.

 

* Each party's veep choice seemed to neutralize a weakness, but also take away one of the strongest "don't vote for the other guy" arguments. Obama says McCain is old, too old school Washington, and voted for the Iraq war... so he picks a guy who fits the same mold. McCain says Obama is too young and inexperienced... so he picks a woman who fit the same mold.

 

Could it possibly be that we might focus on actual issues in the remaining two months of the campaign? Is that too much to ask?