Run Sarah, run!

Longtime readers know that I rarely if ever write about politics. I’m going to make an exception.

A month ago I was committed to vote for Obama. Why? For reasons of his biography. For wanting to participate in history. And for the simple fact that I had no compelling reason to vote for McCain.

When Obama chose the worst of all possible running mates, the “I bet my IQ is higher than your IQ” blowhard who has done nothing except be a lifelong politician, my soft support for Obama weakened to the point where I had just about decided not to vote at all.

When McCain introduced Palin (less than a week ago!) I was instantly hooked.

Her speech, both in words and style, made her appealing. Her mannerisms and perceptible toughness made her appealing. The brutal internet attacks on her made her more appealing. The pictures of her hunting made her more appealing. Her family flaws made her much more appealing.

When the news of her daughter’s pregnancy broke, a commenter on one of the bogs I visit opined (hoped) that this would turn evangelicals away from her, because, according to this erudite scholar of Christianity, ”fundies” view such pregnancies out of wedlock as punishment from God for not being able to control your raging teenage hormones.

Son, if you don’t understand that Christians never view a pregnancy as a punishment from God, you’ll probably never understand Sarah Palin’s appeal to evangelicals. The best you’ll be able to muster is to comfort (read: delude) yourself that you are so much smarter mainstream America.

Yes, just on the basis of her speech when introduced as the running mate, and because of the news that followed, I was ready to say, and did say: I’ve switched my vote.

But I was still nervous. Suddenly a convention I had no intention of watching became the focus of my attention. Would she live up to my expectations? Could she deliver under the enormous pressure?

I’m glad they didn’t show a biographical video. Those tend to be narcissistic. No, she had me when she walked on stage after a simple introduction and gave that endearing one-flapping-arm wave rather than the two arms over the head politician’s gesture.

And she really had me when she told all the parents of special needs children that they’d have an advocate in the Whitehouse.

She was simply magnificent.

The most amazing that she accomplished is that she made me like John McCain.

How many days to the Palin-Biden debate?