Governor Palin

Eschewing the obvious pun on Governor Sarah Palin's name, any analysis of this suddenly-famous Alaskan is basically a comparison to the three men already in the race. Palin was Global Review's favorite for the veep slot (I regret I didn't write that a few days ago), and she brings strengths to the race, in a way perhaps only Governor Bobby Jindal could have matched.

Palin and McCain.

• Palin's young; McCain is old. Balance.
• Palin's female; McCain is male. Balance.
• Palin's a former mayor and sitting governor; McCain is a legislator. Balance.
• Palin's strongly pro-life; McCain is weakly pro-life. Balance.
• Palin's warm and cuddly; Cindy McCain is powerful, and quiet about her good deeds. Who's really the first lady here?
• Palin's a proved reformer; McCain is a proven reformer. Emphasis.
• Palin's not very loyal to the GOP; McCain is not very loyal to the GOP. The voters are not very loyal to the GOP.

Bottom line: Palin balances the ticket very well and exemplifies the strengths of the next generation of the GOP.

Palin and Biden

• Palin's a reformist governor; Biden is an old-school senator. Palin wins.
• Palin's well-spoken and poised; Biden is your uncle after too many drinks. Palin wins.
• Palin is a woman; Biden is a tough debater. Neutralization of a key Biden strength.
• Palin has a cute family; Biden has a cute family. Neutralization.
• Palin has a working class husband; Biden has working class family. Neutralization.
• Palin's balances her ticket; Biden balances his ticket.

Bottom line: Biden's a bigger, stronger senator than Obama, and there was a risk he could run roughshod over a Romney or a Pawlenty. He can't run roughshod over Palin without looking ungentlemanly; besides, she's spritelier.

Palin and Obama

• Obama's young, Palin's younger.
• Obama has no executive experience, Palin's the only executive in the race.
• Obama's an outsider, Palin's a further-outsider.
• Obama started in dirty Chicago politics, Palin reformed dirty Alaska politics.
• Obama's got a brief record, Palin's got a briefer record.
• Obama has a great public persona, Palin has a great public persona.
• Obama has a great personal narrative, Palin has a good personal narrative.
• Obama has a cute family, Palin has a cute family.
• Obama's a novelty, Palin's a novelty.
• Obama's African-American (13% of the U.S. pop), Palin's a woman (51% of the U.S. pop).
• Obama's a loyal partisan, Palin assaulted the corrupt Alaska GOP from within.

Bottom line: I had to reverse the order of the comparisons here. In sketching this, it quickly became obvious why Palin was chosen: she mitigates almost all of Obama's innate advantages. At the bottom of the ticket, of course, she's can't punch her weight, but Obama's a hard candidate to land good punches on anyway. Palin represents a positive way of running against Obama: she can affirm all his personal strengths, but add to them actual executive experience.

Crucially, Palin can speak from personal experience on a number of issues. She has a son in the military - take that, Michael Moore. She's Alaskan, and her husband is an oilman of the blue collar variety, so she can speak knowledgeably about drilling. She's a woman who gave birth to a Down's Syndrome baby, so she can speak compassionately and passionately about children's right to life and the evils of eugenics. She was a mayor, so she can speak about hometown issues with a fluency the three senators in the race seriously lack. She was a governor and a reformist, giving her more executive experience than the three senators in the race combined.

She represents the future of the GOP. Palin-Jindal 2012, anyone?