Sarah Palin for VP?

A friend asked about my thoughts of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate. My response is below. (No one has asked me about Joe Biden being Obama's pick, so I have not written any up yet.)

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What I know of Palin (and personal commentaries):
- She's a fiscal conservative. One of the biggest accomplishments she's had in office is to cut government spending. I share this view, because I think it's unsustainable for the government to continue raising taxes while increasing spending. Too many people have financial difficulties in their personal lives because they lack fiscal constraint to spend within their means. The government should be no different. She also sold the commercial jet that the previous governor used for travel on eBay when she took office, and drives an old Jetta to work everyday. That contrasts with other elected politicians who drive expensive cars on government expense.
- That she used eBay to sell the jet tells me that she is not behind the times, and will certainly be innovative in getting things done.
- She has integrity. She filed a corruption complaint against the establishment, even though it ostracized her from the Republic Party in her state. That shows courage and the integrity to do what is right, and ultimately she was vindicated, when the people chose her over the establishment.
- She is against abortion. Her fifth child was diagnosed with Down's syndrome, and she refused to get an abortion. That's a personal choice which I can respect. What is unclear to me is whether she believes that the government should enact and enforce pro-life laws (or overturn existing pro-choice ones).
- She is LGBT friendly. While she is against such lifestyles, and despite being in one of two states that forbid such lifestyles in its constitution, she signed into law in effect giving equal rights to civil unions and domestic partnerships.

Overall:
McCain's pick of Palin is a better choice than Obama's pick of Biden. (I won't get into why I think Biden was a bad pick in this email.) Too many people (and I think it's mostly Democrats) are too worried about how inexperienced she is to be "a heartbeat away from the presidency". While she is inexperience, she is no less so than Obama, as she already as executive level experience, whereas Obama has none in that respect, and he'd actually *be* the president. As VP, her role would be to learn the ropes, so that 4 or 8 years later, she can take lead of the party. What I see here is that McCain is looking beyond just this election. He realizes that even if he does not win, he now is in the position to change the course of the Republican Party. And if he does win, then she will definitely be the standard bearer come the next time around. I'm glad he did not choose Romney, who just seems too ambitious. She is a better pick than Pawlenty, as that would have been a purely political decision to win his state. Being from Alaska and being that Alaska always votes Republican, and that it only has 3 electoral votes, winning the state could not have been the motivation.