Column: McCain's VP Gamble Unlikely To Generate Votes

This story was written by Rashmi Joshi, Daily Bruin

My former suitemate was from somewhere in Alaska, and that won her so much of the floors curiosity that you would think she hailed from a different planet; kids from Canada get less attention than that.

Of course now, with Sen. John McCains ridiculous pick for a vice presidential candidate, Alaska and its governor, Sarah Palin, have become the new darlings of the media.

The only successful thing about this maverick decision was that it wrenched attention away from Sen. Barack Obamas speech at Invesco Field on Thursday night. Thats the one where he looked at the cards in his hands and placed at least 19 attacks against his opponent on the table.

McCain is evidently in a gambling kind of mood as well. Unfortunately, his bet was not wise. Its like he is suddenly so desperate for the big win that he thought shooting himself in the foot might mysteriously open up previously undiscovered paths to the presidency.

Gov. Sarah Palin may be a woman, but her views on many issues dont resemble those of most other women. She stands firmly against abortion even in the case of rape and incest, is a lifelong member of the National Rifle Association, and is an avid caribou hunter.

So, she is planning on toting guns and God to Washington, and her stances on these issues dont exactly give the warm and fuzzies to most American women.

Obamas vice presidential choice, Sen. Joe Biden, wrote the Violence Against Women Act a piece of legislation that has been crucial in protecting women who have been subjected to domestic violence and sexual assault.

Hillary Clintons sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits actually booed Palin in Pennsylvania when she thanked the New York senator for setting a precedent. These people, who waved metaphorical pitchforks at Obamas candidacy, are now falling over each other to vote for him and get as far away from the Republicans as they can.

Honestly, Mitt Romney could have done more to attract American women; he does have that awesome hair.

Maybe traditional conservatives will vote for Palin. Ironically, they love guns and the sanctity of human life, right? However, in this case, they would have to hate the concept of experience on the job and skillfully managed foreign policy.

Consider this: Palin has only been governor for two years before which she was the mayor of a small town called Wasilla whereas Biden has been in the Senate since 1972 concentrating on issues such as terrorism and foreign policy .

On the latter issue, the most compelling argument for Palins experience so far was fronted by Fox News which declared that she had considerably more experience in the field of foreign policy than Obama because Alaska is closer to Russia than Illinois . Ive been a short drive away from Apple headquarters for most of my life I must be some kind of computer genius then.

Vice presidential season is usually that week in the election circus where minor characters are wheeled into the big tent for a bit, and we all have to pretend to care about who is going to be the person who is running for a position that does close to nothing in the four-year term.

However, after seeing the wildly disturbing role that the current vice president plays in the workings of the U.S., I figure it wouldnt be so bad to take a closer look at these second-string players.