Election Drama

This morning's buzz was not only around the spectacular oration by Senator Obama at the Democratic Convention last night, but also surrounding Senator McCain's announcement of vice-presidential running mate Sarah Palin. Governor Palin becomes the first female to run on a Republican ticket, and also the first Alaskan to grace a national election. Her VP run may be significant for the GOP, but her background brings some ambiguity about her ability to contribute effectively on a larger scale to a new administration.

The selection of Palin serves as a strategy that the McCain Team believes might dissuade the Hilary Clinton loyalists into changing their votes, particularly in an election with blurred party lines and overall indecision. And although Palin's VP candidacy seems deliberately intended to bait Clinton voters, it also puts McCain in a new light as a pragmatic political realist. This is politics after all, and this election is about reform. What better way to position the GOP candidate than as progressive? This in stark contrast to the 'old boys' club' image that McCain's candidacy perpetuates. The McCain-Palin ticket is an indirect response to the question of, as Obama had eloquently put, how a 21st century democracy can be run by a 20th century bureaucracy. Clearly, the answer is it cannot.

In fact, the ultimate victor in this election may be perfectly suited to serve as the catalyst for change, for more reasons than the obvious. I can't imagine that an election as historic and as dramatic as this could ever be followed by a ho-hum administration. Two terms of Bush has been enough, so subsequently any change is good. I personally am still undecided, so it will be interesting to see how both parties' platforms pan out.