There’s some speculation that she’s doing this in order to focus on a run for the Presidential nomination in 2012, but I’m not so sure that all jives. I think it’s more likely that she will take a little time to get out of the spotlight, regroup, and then push towards a much more public speaking life. She mentioned that she felt that she’s done so much traveling the country and speaking. And maybe that is for a push for 2012, but more likely, it’s because she was getting some pressure to be the Governor instead of a spokesperson for the GOP.

Unfortunately, I don’t think that she’ll be the savior that the Republicans are looking for anyways and if she were to get the nomination, it would be a poor choice. Although, current trends continuing, she could win. I really don’t know that the “down-home country politician” is what the majority of Americans are looking for. And, while she certainly has the conservative chops, she just doesn’t have the perceived popularity to get the vote.

I guess time will tell what her path will be. She’s not very hard on the eyes, so let’s hope she doesn’t disappear altogether…

Then, on the flip side, we have pundits like Rush Limbaugh and Scott Hennen suggesting that she is the catalyst for the regeneration of the Conservative Republican party.  But is she?

I think she may be a cog in the wheel that will get it started, but she certainly isn’t the one that will lead the party there.  There will have to be many more of the party leaders working for that same goal in order for it to actually happen. And it won’t happen overnight.  Or even in one cycle.

The problem with the McCain/Palin ticket is that McCain was one kind of Maverick and Palin is another entirely.  McCain for his venturing into the center aisle and going against the already liberal leadership of the party and Palin for heading further into the wilderness that is conservative republicanism.  Mavericks in two different directions.

So, Palin might not be the cure for the disease, but she certainly can help with some of the symptoms.  It would be smart for the leadership of the party to find a way for her to play a much bigger role in the party and in the national scene.  Perhaps by pushing Stephens out and replacing him with her?  Senator Palin anyone?

Cafferty even goes so far to ask what would have happened if McCain had selected someone like Romney.  And the best he can come up with is that Mitt wouldn’t have to have had the RNC buy him clothes and could name a paper that he reads.  Is that really all that Romney has over Palin?  Then why on earth would we care whether McCain picked Romney or Palin?

Or how about Tom Ridge, he asks.  What?  Are you serious?  Do you honestly think that two “good ol’ boys” would stand a chance in a very hot place in this race?  If anything, the race would be an even greater slide for Obama.  Something that I would bet Mr. Cafferty would like.

But in the end, this is my site, and it only matters what I think.  Was Palin a mistake?  Hell no.  In fact, I would add that the race would be a landslide for Obama if Palin weren’t in it.  With some friendly help from folks like Joe the Plumber, Joe Six Pack, and now Tito the Builder, the McCain/Palin ticket seems to be holding on by a string.  I would argue that it is because of Palin, not in spite of, that the race stands that way.  Her “downhome” attitude and lack of Play-By-The-Rules-edness have truly endeared her to many of the core constituents around the country.

It’s McCain’s downfall that has caused the current state of affairs.  As I alluded to at the beginning of this article, McCain used to be considered a fiscal conservative.  Or at least what passed for one.  In recent years, and most noticably, in recent months, we’ve seen a shift of dynamic towards what we would consider a “same ol’, same ol’” conservative.  That is, as my friend Jake likes to say, a “Liberal Light”.  All the fiscal policies of a Liberal, less socialist calories.

So, if you want to blame someone for the sorry state of affairs in the right wings, blame McCain.  He’s bowed far enough to the whims of his compatriots in the Republican party (and still not appeased them) that he’s made most of his more avid followers quite upset with him.  It should make for a pretty interesting night on the 4th.  I think the result is pretty evident at this point, but I truly think it could have been otherwise.  Now, I just need to decide if either would have been all that great…

Each has the campaign logo of the opposite candidate.  So, the McCain logo becomes the Obama shirt and the Obama logo becomes the McCain shirt.  Really quite interesting.  A play on whether we really pay attention to any of the wording after we get familiar with the logos of the places.

Too bad the platforms aren’t a little more interchangeable as well.

She could be just the extra bit that the McCain camp needs.  First, I think that Obama missed out when he chose not to pick Clinton as his VP.  He would have gotten a very popular candidate as well as a Woman.  McCain could pick up a small amount of votes for having a woman on the ticket.

Also, with all the uproar being about spending, spending, and more spending, McCain and Palin could be to of the best of the best conservatives as far as anti-earmarking goes.  And I like that.  It’s time to be fiscally conservative once again.  When the rest of the country is reportedly in a damn recession, why is the government spending more?

Adding Sarah Palin to the ticket would pretty much cement my pick for President.  Obama lost me months ago, but I don’t believe in wasted votes, so the other Presidential candidates (yes there are others) still have a chance.  Probably not with Palin on the ticket though.

Update: It’s official.  Even McCain’s campaign site has been updated already. (although the site doesn’t render very well for me in Firefox right now.  Maybe they’re still working on it.)