Yesterday came the news that over 40M Americans watched Barack Obama accept his nomination as President for the Democratic Party. It also came with shock that John McCain officially introduced the world to his Vice President, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. As Stephen Colbert so aptly put it, “Who the $#@* is Sarah Palin?”

I follow politics a bit. Well, actually a lot. A bit of a junkie truth be told. And I only recognize her name as once being a guest on Glenn Beck, and since I didn’t know who she was (and don’t particularly like the show) I skipped it over. And that is the only time I ever remember hearing her name.

And now she is a single heartbeat away from the most powerful political office in the world — Commander In-Chief of the world’s strangest Armed Forces.

Let me first reiterate how cool this whole election season has been. Americans once again care about their politics after eight years of, well, less than successful results. We also have high emotions swirling because we have been lucky enough to have two history making Democratic candidates in Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Both, as I’ve often stated, are more than qualified to be President, and in any given election season I think Hillary would have won, but that debate is for another day. Back to “the hockey Mom from Alaska.”

So who is she? She is a 44 year old Mother of 5 children (The youngest just four months old and with Down syndrome). Her husband is a snowmobile racer and stay at home Dad. She was a great High School basketball player and finished second in the Miss Alaska Beauty Pageant (For which she was granted a college scholarship) where she went on to get her BA in Journalism with a PoliSci minor from the University of Idaho. She was a local sports reported on an Anchorage news station before going into politics.

She served on the Wasilla City Council starting in 1992. In 2002, she launched an unsuccessful bid to be Lieutenant Governor. Running on a clean-government campaign in 2006, Palin upset then-Governor Murkowski in the Republican gubernatorial primary. And despite being outspent by her Democratic opponent, she won the governorship in November, defeating former Governor Tony Knowles 48.3% to 40.9%.

So that is the background. Good and dandy. So why was she picked? What kind of policy positions does she hold?

The “who” is a young, articulate, smart, tough, pro-life woman who is the governor of our northernmost state. She is conservative and a mother of five, including a son in the Army who is set to be deployed to Iraq on September 11. Her youngest child has Down syndrome. She is blunt, outspoken and charming. And don’t assume she can’t stand toe-to-toe with Joe Biden.

The “why” is she is a governor and outside the Beltway. Conservatives love her, and she shares John McCain’s value system. She is also known for taking on the establishment and ethics is her forte.

I think the potential for her to attract women voters is immense. And I am betting, win or lose or draw, she is a future star of a party in desperate need of young people and women role models. And she seems very intelligent and level headed in the speeches I’ve seen her give since the news came about. But doesn’t every piece of your brain scream this is a political ploy? She certainly didn’t hide it in the rally in Ohio yesterday when she commended Sen. Clinton’s campaign and went on to say, “Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America. But it turns out the women of America aren’t finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all.”

Uh, those 18 million cracks were for President, not veep, and you’re not the first woman to be on a presidential ticket from a major party (D-Ferraro 1984).

But what does this say about the McCain campaign?

1. He’s desperate – Let’s stop pretending this race is as close as national polling suggests. The truth is McCain is essentially tied or trailing in every swing state that matters — and too close for comfort in several states like Indiana and Montana that the GOP usually takes with ease. McCain could easily lose in an electoral landslide. That is the private view of Democrats and Republicans alike.

McCain’s pick shows he is not pretending. Politicians, even “mavericks” like McCain, play it safe when they think they are winning – or see an easy path to winning. They roll the dice only when they know that the risks of conventionality are greater than the risks of boldness.

2. He’s willing to gamble. BIG TIME. – Let’s face it: This is not the pick of a self-confident candidate. It is the political equivalent of a trick play or, as some Democrats called it, a Hail Mary pass in football. McCain talks incessantly about experience, and then goes and selects a woman he hardly knows, who hardly knows foreign policy and who can hardly be seen as instantly ready for the presidency.

He is smart enough to know it could work, at least politically. Many Republicans see this pick as a brilliant stroke because it will be difficult for Democrats to run hard against a woman in the wake of the Hillary Clinton drama. Will this push those disgruntled Hillary voters McCain’s way? Perhaps. But this is hardly aimed at them: It is directed at the huge bloc of independent women.

3. He is worried about his age – John McCain just turned 72. He has to fear that Americans may simply dismiss him as too old, as Paris Hilton did with her viral video hit. And his GO-TO this entire campaign has been that Sen. Obama does not have the experience to be President. And he goes and picks a younger choice with less experience. Does that add up?

Her personal story is impressive: former fisherman, mother of five, takes on the established, etc. But that hardly qualifies her to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

For a man who is 72 years old and has had four bouts with cancer to have chosen someone so completely unqualified to become president is shockingly irresponsible. Suddenly, McCain’s age and health become central issues in the campaign, as does his judgment.

He passed over Mitt Romney, who ran a big state, Massachusetts; a big company, Bain Capital; and a big event, the Olympics.

He passed over Kay Bailey Hutchison, the Texas senator who is knowledgeable about the military, good on television and — obviously — a woman.

He passed over Joe Lieberman, his best friend in the Senate, an Independent, and someone with a large base of appeal.

He passed over former congressman, trade negotiator and budget director Rob Portman.

And he also passed over Mike Huckabee, the governor of Arkansas. Who was BEATING McCain in Southern States after he already dropped out! And a lock to shore up the Evangelical Christian base that is still unsure of McCain.

McCain’s supporters have said all along that McCain is the right choice to be President over Obama because of his experience. Fair argument in my mind. That McCain’s experience leads to better judgement in tough situations. n his first presidential decision, John McCain has shown that he is willing to endanger his country, potentially leaving it in the hands of someone who simply has no business being a heartbeat away from the most powerful, complicated, difficult job in human history.

Seriously.

Obama campaign response? – “Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain’s commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush’s failed economic policies. That’s not the change we need, it’s just more of the same“, Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement.

Nuff said.

Sen. Barack Obama’s pledge to supporters that they would be the “first to know” his running mate turned out to be a savvy but unworkable communications strategy.

The Democratic presidential candidate got scooped by the media on his own announcement, done in by dogged reporting, loose-lipped party insiders and the limits of technology.

But all was not lost. He amassed a huge database of cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses for the fall campaign.

Obama’s plan to use text messaging to announce his choice was a first in politics. He had promised supporters that by providing cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses they would be “part of this important moment” – the revelation of his choice for vice president.

I was not on this list, as I don’t give out my cell number THAT easily, and because I knew every media outlet in the world was on the text list and would break it about 10 seconds after the text went out. I like my news instant, but I can wait 10 seconds.

The text message announcing Biden as Obama’s pick began filtering across the U.S. at 3:02 a.m. EDT Saturday, when most people were asleep. By then, it was old news, by today’s standards. The media had reported the pick more than two hours earlier.

To be honest, it was a miracle that the secret was in the bag for so long. Keeping that kind of knowledge private for over a week was a testament to real discipline in the Obama inner-circle, but they just went overboard.

Everyone knew Barack would be speaking on Saturday in Illinois with his veep choice, so instead of wanting to announce it Saturday morning, as planned. It should have been anounced Friday evening during the primetime news. Instead the campaign called the other finalists to tell them they weren’t selected, and dispatched Secret Service to Senator Biden’s home. No need for the text.

That said, I love the Biden selection. It is probably the most important decision Obama has made to this point.

The Pros: Biden is a man of the people. Born in Scrantan (Battleground state anyone?), never moved to DC, still lives in Delaware. Obama has been criticized for his lack of foreign policy experience. BAM, he nabs arguably the foremost foreign policy expert in the Senate. Sen. Biden has been a very vocal critic of the BUsh-Cheney administration. He also was perceived as the “winner” in the majority of his Democratic debates, very impressive in the company that was on those stages. Biden can also be the attack dog. BIden can go after McSame aggressively, because people expect him to, allowing Barack to take the moral highroad and look like the zenmaster he is perceived as.

The Cons: Barack’s inner-circle has crafted this message of “change” for almost two years. Insistently repeating that Washington is “broken” and we can’t have anymore “Washington insiders”. Biden has been a Senator for over a quarter-century…insider much? He is friends with McCain and has supported him in the past. Could be tricky. Add finally, as I said in the Pros; Biden isn’t afraid to open his mouth and say what he’s thinking. His mouth has gotten him into a lot of trouble in the past, something that could be worrisome for this ticket come November. Yes many people might like that he’s a “regular guy”, but if the GOP and media start a firestorm of hate toward something he says, voters become the sheep they are, turn off their brains, and do whatever talk radio says they should.

Point is – this is probably the most single winnable election for Democrats in decades – and everyone is trying to figure out how they could possibly screw it up. McCain’s ads are strictly talking about how Barack is not ready to be President and other attacks, he doesn’t even talk about his own plans. And while Barack certainly offers a great glimpse of the good he will do, he is still a politician and telling us what we want to hear, but at least he’s talking about it, and not just attacking the opponent.

McCain released an ad yesterday once Biden was announced as the pick. Pretty well played IMHO, but if he does go ahead and tap Romney as his VP, Romney had much worse to say about McCain in the Republican debates than this. But seriously, McCain…make an ad about yourself, not just attacks.

I have had an iPhone for just about two weeks now and I have to admit.. I don’t know how technology took this long to give us this fantastic of a device.

My Dad is an engineer, he grew up, as many his age did, with the technology our generation has always had. He has shared with me about how fascinated he was with the Altaire, learning the BASIC language, etc. But what he always said was his “eureka!” moment was when he first saw the GUI that Apple released (after stealing from Xerox) that featured the onscreen display and mouse. So when I first showed him this phone, he said it was the same feeling he had when he saw that first user-friendly GUI. Needless to say, this phone is amazing. So here a few quick views on a few of my favorite free apps this far

Cube Runner – a true hidden gem! I remember playing this in Middle School on one of those spamware-laden game sites. This uses the accelerometer and tracks high scores. Great app

Sportscular – I just got this and am very impressed. Up to the minute sports coverage including real-time scores, news, standings, and detailed play-by-play. Better than the Sportstap app I had previously installed

Box Office – This app was actually pulled from the app store this week. I assume it is because they use Rotten Tomatoes review system. It shows you what movies are available in your area (using GPS), the showtimes at each theater, the trailer of the movie, and the reviews.

WordPress – I am currently typing up this blog in a vehicle on my way to Ocean City to kill some time. And I am not on a laptop. This is being done on my iPhone through the WordPress app. Very cool.

Others of note are Tap Tap Revenge, Labyrinth Lite, Shazam. Midomi, and the Facebook app.

It’s probably the best hope he has. Impending continuous failure before things get better.