After the Palin choice and the effect her speech had on the Republican contigency of the RNC, much less this nation, I'm not going to be surprised to see the McCain/Palin ticket come out on top in November.

I think it's perfectly valid, however, to wonder about the timing, the choice, and the nature of the VP pick on McCain's part as he's had ample time to gather a legitimate list of potential running mates as compared to his Democratic rival.

The question that plagues the ticket is the influence of Hillary Clinton on the Democratic Party over the course of their Primary against Obama. And, while we still have a good bit of time to figure out how Gov. Palin will eventually stack up in the national stage, I can't help but wonder what kind of trickery was involved in placing her name on the GOP ballot and if she would have been even considered had Clinton taken the Democratic nod.

This is, of course, all speculative thinking and such thinking never gets us anywhere productive.

No matter what the Obama campaign tries to say to the contrary, the McCain/Palin ticket is NOT a reprise of the Bush/Cheney ticket of '00 or '04 and now with a legitimate stereoid shot into the all hallowed women vote and (though I'm sure this one will wane once the debates begin) the "fiscal, true Reagan-conservative" vote, McCain has at least one ace in his deck against the popular orator and his "experienced" wingman.