More actual executive experience by herself than the Democrat ticket - combined.  (Oh, and let's not forget that John McCain also has executive experience - commanding the Navy's largest fighter wing is no mean feat.)  In both cases - Palin and McCain - this involves the oversight, direction, and occasional management of multiple departments while trying to get other things done as well.

Actually has hands-on foreign-policy experience.  She negotiated a fishing-rights agreement with her opposite number in (and I completely forget the name of the Russian province at the moment) the Russian province that also has a coastline on the Bering Sea.

But she's not being brought in for her foreign policy experience - McCain has that out the wazoo - she's being brought in for:

Her solid track record of taking on slimy, business-as-usual politics . . . and winning.  (This is why her high-school nickname, "Barracuda," has been rightly reapplied.)  And while we're on track records, as high-level politicians go, she's pretty clean!  Oh, and being a mother wasn't a problem when she had gubernatorial responsibilities.

An in-the-open reminder to the conservative base that the Maverick Centrist hasn't abandoned them.  Because Romney and the media slimed Mike Huckabee during the primaries, he would not have worked well in the second chair because each and every one of those attacks would have been front-and-center all fall.

"Walks the talk" on just about every core conservative issue.  (Her position on the civil-union benefits question brilliantly charted the gray spot in the Alaska Constitution - and it didn't rise to the level of allowing "gay marriage" nor did it leave that door open.)  Oh, and did I mention that she's anti-tax?  And where do you think that the Maverick-Barracuda ticket will come down on our stem-cell ballot initiative issue?

John McCain knows that his weak spot is domestic issues.  Sarah Palin's absolute command of those issues (and the clear ability to deliver a decent speech without the assistance of a teleprompter) covers that weakness with titanium-solid armor plating.

Governor Palin doesn't need to be ready to take over as President on Day One.  (VP does have a learning-curve option)  But if push comes down to shove, and I pray that it doesn't, I'm far more comfortable with her than I am with BHO in the Oval Office.  The fact that the Dems and the MSM are going after her perceived lack of experience hypocritically masks the reality that Barry Obama has zero executive experience whatsoever.
The attacks from the leftists (which include blatant MSM bias) are because this pick is so solid.  They're advancing `straw man' and `ad hominem' arguments and rebuttals - including dead issues and non-issues - because they've got nothing else to use!  Truthfully (and I say this as a seasoned poker and chess player), I sincerely believe that the silly Dems likely soiled themselves on Friday and are boldly making fools of themselves to hide how truly scared they are.

Just because there is no media record of significant contact between McCain and Palin this cycle doesn't mean that it didn't happen.  I'll bet a steak dinner against your doughnut hole that McCain had her on his `secret short list' as early as June.  Captain McCain is generally no idiot, and he knows how to keep his mouth shut on things that count.  Keep in mind that there were at least a half-dozen `head fakes' in the last couple of weeks - I suspect designed to keep the media guessing.  He may have publicly stated that he wishes that he picked her months ago, but this announcement was timed perfectly . . . and for good reason.

John McCain has said on the record - doggoned if I've got the link handy right now - that the only way he'd even think about reinstating the draft is in a WW3-type scenario.  That said, and I cannot go into certain details, y'all might want to keep that particular scenario in mind when deciding your driving issues this November.  Oh, and just in case no one's noticed, the Maverick-Barracuda ticket is actually starting to lead in the national polls.  (So much for the inevitability of "The Chosen One" and "Status Joe.")

Now, about those state polls that every political junkie I know swears are more accurate than the national number.  Depending upon which of them you believe, the general underlying aggregated consensus is that there are at least twelve states in the "up for grabs" column.  (For the record:  CO, FL, MI, MN, MO, NC, NH, NM, NV, OH, PA, and VA)  I'll leave the math geeks to figure out how many different ways those 12 could sort out.  And any leanings of this way or that way are typically within that particular poll's margin of error; so no real biggie there.

What I do know is that my beloved native Michigan (a state that McCain must win) is very likely to flip to POTUS red . . . and the funny part is that the Michigan Democrats are doing the GOP's heavy work for them.  Hey, seriously, can we get a refund on our Governor?