Puh Puh Puh Puh Palin

In four years, America's going to be eager for change. So which Republican is best positioned to challenge Barack in 2012?

When asked to choose among some of the GOP’s top names for their choice for the party’s 2012 presidential nominee, 64% say Palin. The next closest contenders are two former governors and unsuccessful challengers for the presidential nomination this year -- Mike Huckabee of Arkansas with 12% support and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts with 11%.

Wow. Palin leads the next most popular Republicans by 50 points! Now we know why they're out to get her.

Ninety-one percent (91%) of Republicans have a favorable view of Palin, including 65% who say their view is Very Favorable. Only eight percent (8%) have an unfavorable view of her, including three percent (3%) Very Unfavorable.

What about all that talk from liberals about how awful Palin is, and how she represents McCain's biggest mistake?

Only 20% of GOP voters say Palin hurt the party’s ticket, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Six percent (6%) say she had no impact, and five percent (5%) are undecided.

Is it possible that McCain's biggest mistake wasn't Palin, but rather, McCain?

These findings echo a survey earlier this week which found that Republicans were happier with their vice presidential candidate than with their presidential nominee. Seventy-one percent (71%) said McCain made the right choice by picking Palin as his running mate, while only 65% said the party picked the right nominee for president.

Palin's strength is that she makes the base happy. From that platform, she'll have the power to go after the rest of the country.

The key for the 44-year-old Palin will be whether she can broaden her base of support. An Election Day survey found that 81% of Democrats and, more importantly, 57% of unaffiliated voters had an unfavorable view of her.

The survey numbers are from the most accurate pollster this year - Rasmussen.

Not True

Somehow, word started spreading that Joe Biden only got 9,000 votes in primary season.

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee got a big laugh from the crowd at
tonight's convention when he said that as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, GOP vice
presidential nominee Sarah Palin outpolled her Democratic counterpart, Joseph
Biden."She got more votes running for mayor of the town of Alaska than Joe Biden
got running for president of the United States," Huckabee declared, sparking
applause.

That would be a hard thing to do in a town of less than 10,000 people.

There's just one problem with Huckabee's statement: it's not true. Biden
collected a total of 63,157 votes during the Democratic primaries and caucuses
this year. By contrast, Wasilla boasts a population of 9,780.

Palin did, however, collect 114,697 votes in her run for Governor.

Who?

McCain has done a nice job of playing the VP card in such a manner as to steal some news cycle from Barack's big speech. On my local news, the lead story was Barack, followed by McCain's pick being announced today, followed by the weather.

Speaking of the weather, there is a hurricane coming that appears designed to make it impossible for John McCain to escape the linkage to George Bush that Democrats seek to create in the minds of voters. Imagine Gustav coming to shore through the Gulf of Mexico and hitting Louisiana and Mississippi on Wednesday night in the middle of John McCain's convention? Now that would take some skill to finesse. Katrina was three years ago today.

In the meantime, the McCain campaign is skillfully maneuvering to limit the surge from Barack's big night, even while being respectful of it.

Arizona Sen. John McCain is expected to announced his pick for vice president Thursday evening or Friday.

He decided to wait until Friday after teasing a Thursday night announcement. Leaving us all to wonder - who?

A source familiar with the search said a number of the VP contenders, including Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and others are expected to travel to Dayton for a Friday rally when McCain is expected to announce his running mate. That will create even more buzz around the pick, the source said.

It obviously isn't Huckabee. Lieberman is very unlikely. Romney has some positives, but would ultimately undermine Barack's appeal to evangelicals and to crossover voters. And he has the baggage of his health reform bill in Massachusetts. Which is why I figure Pawlenty is the guy.

Pawlenty, Romney and Lieberman are seen as the most likely picks, according to the source, while others familiar with the campaign single out Pawlenty and Romney.

But I keep hoping for a game-changer. A woman would be the best thing, a draw for disgruntled Democrats.

There also has been speculation that McCain might pick a woman for his running mate after Democrat Barack Obama tapped U.S. Sen Joseph Biden, D-Del., rather than U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. U.S Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, former EBay CEO Meg Whitman, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin are in the mix.

Hutchinson is too old school in my mind. The benefit would be lost. No one without government experience can be John McCain's running mate - it would create a vulnerability considering his age. The CEO angle is just a tease. Sarah Palin, in her first term as Governor of Alaska, can't be considered to be experienced enough.

How about Condi Rice? Why hasn't there been more speculation about her? She's likely being ruled out because she's never held elected office.

Leaving us again with Pawlenty.