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he gauntlet has been dropped.  And it is the Republican Party rather than the Democratic Party that has dropped it.  Of course, John McCain made a political move in choosing Alaska’s Governor Sarah Palin to be his vice-presidential candidate.  The issue, rather, is whether it was a remarkably shrewd political move.  And there is no getting around the fact that it was.  Like it or not, the Republican Party is now just as much in the position to talk about instituting major change as is the Democratic Party. 

Of course, Palin is open to criticism on one front or another.  But so is Barack Obama.  And if Senator Joseph Biden balances Obama’s lack of experience, then it follows by parity of reasoning that McCain balances Palin’s lack of experience. 

What is most intriguing about McCain’s choice is that in a single move he has essentially changed the terms of the debate.  Or to put the put the point another way, McCain has undercut Obama’s thunder. 

Obama has taken himself as the very embodiment of change.  And suddenly it turns out that there is another embodiment of change. 

Many, of course, will no doubt point out that Alaska is no New York or Massachusetts or California or Florida or Pennsylvania.  But exactly the same can be said about Arkansas; and Bill Clinton was elected to the presidency. 

Some will undoubtedly suppose that these remarks reveal that I a pro-McCain Republican.  Alas, what they reveal no such thing.  Whether I am for McCain or a die-heart Obama supporter, the simple truth is that McCain made an incredibly shrewd move. 

Of course, the first-female vice-presidential candidate was Geraldine Ferraro, who was Walter Mondale’s running mate in 1984.  And it might be thought that this undermines the significance of McCain’s choice.  Alas, this is not the case owing to the social reality of the moment, which includes the fact that Hilary Clinton did not win the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party and she was not picked as Obama’s running mate. 

Hilary Clinton put front and center the idea of a woman being in the oval office.  And nothing will change the fact that McCain has masterfully responded to that reality by serving up the next closet possibility. 

Lest there be any misunderstanding, I do not hold that Obama ought to have picked Hilary Clinton to be his running mate.  Biden was undoubtedly a good choice for Obama, because Biden brings the experience of seniority minus serious controversy.  What is more, there is the fact that Hilary Clinton is married to Bill Clinton.  So having her as the vice-presidential running mate, or actual vice-president, would have too easily involved the former-President Bill Clinton.  Obama was wise to avoid that morass.

Alas, avoiding that morass did not change the fact that the issue of woman being the oval office had been put front and center with unparalleled vivacity. 

Now, in choosing Sarah Palin, McCain revealed himself to be far more malleable than many might have supposed.  And it is this reality that oddly enough makes him quite a threat to Obama.  For the choice Palin quite thunderously shows that McCain can bring initiate breathtaking change.  The mighty winds of change no longer emanate only from Obama. 

And while people can surely attack Palin, what is manifestly clear is that it is going to be extremely difficult to do so without opening the door to quite stinging counterattacks.  There is no way to go on about her inexperience without opening up the very wound that the Democratic convention has been concerned to heal, namely the differential between Obama and Hilary Clinton in terms of experience.  If indeed experience counts that much, then people were fools in choosing Obama over Hilary Clinton.  And if things other than raw experience count for Obama, then they also count for Palin. 

In choosing Palin, McCain made a masterful choice.  While McCain hardly destroyed Obama, what is undeniable is that McCain has re-inserted himself into the conversation in a most resounding way.  Either McCain is much smarter than many would have supposed, or he has got some damn good advisors and, moreover, he listens very well.