MINNESOTA BOUND

I am in the Atlanta airport headed for St. Paul, Minnesota where I will speak at a conference called Peace Island that will run counter to the Republican National Convention.

I flew out of Boston early this morning and am taking the southern route to Minnesota. Just a bit out of the way.

All the news is about McCain's surprise pick of Alaska governor Sarah Palin to be his V-P running mate. This has surely shaken things up. I had known of her after watching her during the Alaska governor race debates on C-SPAN a couple years ago. I noted then that she was smart and well spoken. She is going to spice up what would have been a lackluster McCain campaign. Up to this point there was not much inspiration in the Republican effort. I'm sure many women will give McCain a second look now.

Palin's politics are pretty bad, the media is calling her a reformer, but the truth is she is a conventional Christian fundamentalist right-wing choice. I'd venture to guess she will prove to be a quick study on the issues and a good campaigner.