The only really interesting topic of discussion for conservatives right now is Sarah Palin. McCain will be the same mediocrity in the White House that he has been in the Senate – he is a stop-gap, purely anti-Obama vote who, despite his great military service, won’t ever be interesting on his own as a political figure and who seems blissfully unaware that the greatest move of his political career, selecting Palin, is the only reason this is even a race. Palin appears to be the kind of entity conservatives have been hunting for since Reagan, that was totally absent from the national GOP stage prior to her selection, and who now will likely be GOP front-runner for president in 2012 if Obama wins this year and front-runner to follow up McCain if McCain wins. Aside from her, the national GOP picture remains depressingly bleak, and if McCain wins, all the influences that have made the party so will be doing all they can to keep Palin from becoming the Margaret Thatcher kind of character she has the potential to become.
If Obama wins, the party purges and soul-searches at all levels and possibly re-orients again to the heartland kind of conservatism that Palin represents, with Palin the de facto leader in preparation for 2012. I’m voting for McCain, but to be honest, it’s tough to say which outcome is really better for the party and country in the long run.
And just think: all these political tectonics have occurred because one woman had the courage and character to stand up to GOP mediocrities in Alaska. We should all learn from her.