Sleight of hand

From what little I've read about her, I can admire the work of Gov. Sarah Palin. Provided she maintains her principles, her rapid advancement could be a great thing. But I can't get over the fact her selection as candidate for the vice-presidency is more about trying to hang onto the conservative vote one more time than it is an admission the Republicans have been marching in the wrong direction for several election cycles. As he often does, Vox puts it best:

Sarah Palin merits conservative enthusiasm in her own right; she may – I stress "may" – one day become a legitimate conservative standard bearer in the Thatcherite tradition, and her selection as vice-presidential candidate is a big step towards her eventually reaching such status. Pro-life and anti-corruption, she is certainly a huge improvement over the nonconservatives, fake conservatives and strong-government conservatives who have dominated the Republican Party since the failure of the 1994 Republican House.

She is a huge improvement, one notes, over Republican politicians such as John McCain – who, I hasten to point out, is still at the top of the presidential ticket.

While McCain-Palin is a much more effective electoral pairing than McCain-Romney or McCain-Lieberman would have been, it must also be acknowledged that a McCain-Palin administration will not be substantively different than a McCain-Romney or a McCain-Lieberman one. While Sarah Palin will indubitably look better at state funerals than the older male alternatives, it's impossible to argue that John McCain will be any less likely to invade sovereign nations, increase government spending or grant immigration amnesties to invaders from the Third World due to her holding down the vice presidency.

Judging by the reactions in the blogosphere, though, her presence on the ticket seems to be making a lot of true conservatives more willing to hold their nose again and vote Republican just one... more... time. It's a genius move. McCain waves a pretty, seemingly principled face at the crowd, and people start forgetting his flip-flops and general cussedness on amnesty and speech-restricting 'campaign finance reform.' How many times will the GOP get away with jilting its base for four years then wooing them back with symbolism? Action, Republicans--not words. Or women.

Since everybody's talking political platforms, here's mine (and no, I didn't think Hugh Hewitt had it quite right a couple years ago).

* Consult the Constitution first
* Commence returning the troops home
* Control our borders
* Curtail the spending
* Cut the taxes

If the Republicans show they can govern--not just campaign--like that, they might earn my vote again in time for 2012. But I'm done lending it to them on hope alone.