Yay! It's Palin!

I'm enthused — and oh-so-pleasantly surprised! — about John McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate, for all of the reasons stated in my previous posts about her [and new ones, which I'll be adding to this table as I write them — Beldar]:

NO.	POST	DATE
1.	Would Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin be a grand slam as McCain's Veep?	June 8, 2008
2.	Palin leads Pajamas Media veep poll	June 18, 2008
3.	Review: Kaylene Johnson's "Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska's Political Establishment Upside Down"	June 29, 2008
4.	Palin would give voters grounds to consider the 2008 GOP Veep nominee on more than the three traditional occasions	July 1, 2008
5.	McCain should say: "I shall go to Alaska! (And I will take along the press!)"	July 11, 2008
6.	"Most popular politician in the country," a hockey mom from Alaska, is indeed in "the realm of the possible" as McCain's Veep choice	July 18, 2008
7.	Palin versus Obama at Landstuhl	July 27, 2008
8.	Beldar to Lowry, for the benefit of McCain, on ANWR	August 6, 2008
9.	Windfall profits taxes on energy companies?	August 7, 2008
10.	Why Obama's conventional Veep choice should free McCain to make an unconventional one (Palin or Jindal)	August 24, 2008
11.	Yay! It's Palin! (with table of all Palin posts)	August 29, 2008
12.	Non-scandal involving Gov. Palin: Even though he's an admitted child-abuser who Tasered his own step-son and used a deadly weapon to break the law, Trooper Wooten still has a job	August 29, 2008
13.	Why Biden won't be able to do to Palin what Bentsen did to Quayle	August 29, 2008
14.	Don't be misled into thinking that Gov. Palin has championed the same sort of "windfall profits taxes" on oil companies that Obama has	August 29, 2008
15.	The Palin family's energy bona fides versus the Democrats' big talk	August 29, 2008
16.	Not a messiah, not even from Harvard, but the one (lower-case) we've been waiting for	August 30, 2008
17.	Palin knows being pro-production doesn't mean being in the oil companies' pocket	August 30, 2008
18.	Single most clueless media "attack" on Gov. Palin's credentials	August 30, 2008
19.	Obama's first post-Palin-pick TV ad: Um, look over there, there's Dubya!	August 30, 2008
20.	Palin's kids are NOT named after TV witches (sheesh)	August 30, 2008
21.	A plea for patience with sour, conventional conservative pundits who are still getting their minds around the Palin pick	August 30, 2008
22.	Palin and the résumé test: a respectful reply to James Joyner	August 30, 2008
23.	MSM and critics mischaracterize Palin as being ignorant of general Veep job duties by taking out of context her statement that she'd want to know her specific responsibilities as Veep	August 31, 2008
24.	Because we can learn about Sarah Palin from looking at her family scrapbook ...	August 31, 2008
25.	When toting up Palin's credentials, do not omit her experience as chair and ethics officer of the Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission	September 1, 2008
26.	Comparing Palin and Obama based on their respective experience in political campaigns	September 1, 2008
27.	A timely Palin family history regarding the competition between privacy and political possibilities	September 1, 2008
28.	Dems ought not count on Sarah Barracuda to blow the VP debate	September 2, 2008
29.	Palin ahead of the curve in 2006 on "all of the above" solutions to energy problems	September 2, 2008
30.	Not a radical secessionist: Sarah Palin, registered Alaska Republican continuously since 1982	September 2, 2008
31.	Palin is popular — not because she's a "populist," but because she works for the whole population "with a servant's heart"	September 3, 2008
32.	Brave couple meet war hero	September 3, 2008
33.	Noonan on Palin: The rest of what was said, and what she thinks	September 3, 2008
34.	Palin's acceptance speech	September 3, 2008
35.	Team Obama's response to the political speech of the 21st century	September 3, 2008
36.	Empirical proof of Palin's leadership abilities relative to Barack Obama's	September 4, 2008
37.	Sexism versus shoddy journalism and elitism in the stream of Palin invective	September 4, 2008
38.	The Palin nomination had plenty of foreshadowing, despite MSM meme of it being a bolt from the blue	September 4, 2008
39.	Meanwhile in the convention hall	September 4, 2008
40.	Palin's history shows ever-growing opposition to earmarks	September 5, 2008
40.	Palin seeks truth from state agency with jurisdiction, refuses to cooperate with political hatchet job, in Tasergate non-scandal	September 5, 2008
41.	Alaska governor's position among the most powerful and most challenging in the U.S.	September 5, 2008
42.	More metaphors from the wild kingdom to describe the Obama-Biden campaign's "Palin problem"	September 5, 2008
43.	Don't confuse Republicans' thrill over the Palin nomination with the Dems' worship of Obama: A reply to Paul Mirengoff	September 6, 2008
44.	"I feel like we deserve to win more than they deserve to lose"	September 6, 2008
45.	Glib dismissals of Gov. Palin's executive record are unfair and unpersuasive: A further response to Paul Mirengoff	September 7, 2008
46.	Palin and the Alaska National Guard	September 7, 2008
47.	The McCain-Palin campaign on offense	September 7, 2008
48.	Axelrod spinning out of control on Palin and related topics	September 7, 2008
49.	A respectful suggestion to the McCain-Palin campaign: Change your slogans	September 7, 2008
50.	NYT confirms startling detail about Palin child's name!	September 8, 2008
51.	A critique of Dahlia Lithwick's debate advice to Joe Biden	September 8, 2008
52.	Biden says election of Palin as VP would be "obviously a backward step for women"	September 9, 2008
53.	Sarah Palin sends Secret Service agent on personal errand	September 9, 2008
54.	Newsweek bonds with child-abuser in Tasergate non-scandal	September 10, 2008
55.	In Gibson interview, Gov. Palin was right: There is no single clear meaning for "the Bush Doctrine"	September 12, 2008
56.	The red flag from Alaska that Team Obama chose to ignore	September 12, 2008
57.	Wisdom & elitism: The moose-hunting hockey mom versus the community organizer from Harvard Law	September 22, 2008
58.	New clueless anti-Palin meme: She's a black widow who'll turn on John McCain	September 22, 2008
59.	Spare me your reverse-reverse snobbery about Sarah Palin	September 23, 2008
60.	A fisking of David Talbot's assembly of Alaska's defeated candidates and felons to whine about "mean girl" Sarah Palin	September 23, 2008
61.	"Caribou Barbie" kicks serious tail	September 23, 2008
62.	Pix for animal lovers	September 24, 2008
63.	Contra Bonnie Goldstein at Slate.com, Gov. Palin has never "admitted publicly" that any communications with Monegan were intended to "urge Wooten's firing"	September 24, 2008
64.	Washington Democratic Party hacks second-guess Gov. Palin about her relative time spent in Juneau and elsewhere	September 24, 2008
65.	Neither Palin nor any human in her shoes could satisfy the mainstream media's lust for "gotcha" questions	September 25, 2008
66.	Don't second-guess McCain's choice of Palin yet based on speculation that Jindal might have been a better one	September 26, 2008
67.	On a clear day, you can indeed see Russia from Alaska	September 27, 2008
68.	From Bill Kristol's lips to John McCain's ear: Free Sarah!	September 28, 2008
69.	Smitten Pakistani president smacked by feminists at home for sexism towards Veep nominee Palin	September 29, 2008
70.	Is Veep debate moderator Gwen Ifill biased?	October 1, 2008
71.	Old media dinosaurs have NOT asked Sarah Palin about her actual accomplishments	October 1, 2008
72.	Ifill quells no qualms by being defensive	October 1, 2008
73.	Palin on Hannity	October 1, 2008
74.	The stage is set for the Veep debate	October 2, 2008
75.	Through Sarah Palin, ordinary, non-mystical Americans may reclaim their national government	October 3, 2008
76.	The integrity gap between Obama-Biden and McCain-Palin	October 3, 2008
77.	Carl Cameron's interview with Gov. Palin	October 3, 2008
78.	Life imitating "Fargo"?	October 3, 2008
79.	Nielsen ratings on Veep debate show 70 million Americans' fascination with Sarah Palin	October 3, 2008
80.	Did someone feed Palin answers to give Cameron for the questions from Couric which she'd ducked?	October 4, 2008
81.	Dealing with Palin haters	October 6, 2008
82.	Branchflower report on Tasergate: Just one guy's opinion that contradicts itself and ignores the relevant facts and law	October 10, 2008
83.	A reply to Prof. Post: It's nonsense to argue both that it was okay for Gov. Palin to actually fire Monegan, but that it wasn't okay for her to merely threaten to fire Monegan	October 12, 2008

You don't know her yet, Americans, not most of you. But I've been writing here, and elsewhere, all summer that she is the real deal. Committed conservatives who've been really digging into the conceivable Veep nominees have recognized that with their responses to a variety of internet polls in which she's done very well against better-known and more conventional choices like Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty. To get to know her, you could do considerably worse than starting with my posts, the photos and links they contain, and the excellent and knowledgeable comments, including skeptical ones, that they've inspired.

Suffice it to say that today, John McCain has made me a happy camper and, for the very first time, an enthusiastic supporter of the 2008 GOP ticket. I'm even going to replace the "Grumpy Old Man" endorsement in my sidebar.

And bravo to the McCain campaign for their incredible discipline in keeping this decision under their collective hats!

(PS: Happy anniversary to Gov. Palin and First Dude Todd! And happy birthday to the grumpy old man himself!)

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UPDATE (Fri Aug 29 @ 12:40pm): Commenter rfy says he's contributed $250 online to the McCain-Palin campaign today after having previously given exactly zero. He points out that "donating to the McCain/Palin campaign is a great way for conservatives to demonstrate our agreement and enthusiasm for Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin." I second that comment, and add this: If McCain is elected, he needs to understand that it was due to wide-spread support from committed conservatives who are taking a chance on him — not just moderates and undecideds. Today, you have a chance to re-enforce and reward, in a tangible way, this profoundly conservative decision by John McCain.