Sarah Palin has gone on the type of journey that is only possible in America. She came out of nowhere; a little-known politician from a relatively insignificant state. As governor of Alaska, she participated in many questionable acts. She took funding from Congress for a project that was going nowhere, she abused the same earmarks that John McCain claims to fight against, and she has the same kind of shady past that McCain supporters have claimed that Barack Obama has.

So how exactly did she become a GOP superstar? The simple fact behind the choice of Palin was that John McCain needed a woman. It didn’t matter to him who it was (many more qualified women in the GOP), he just had to have a woman. Now he is allowed to use sexism and the gender card as a firewall against any attacks. This came at a perfect time for McCain, as people were beginning to accept the fact that being a former prisoner of war doesn’t mean he can never be questioned. Now, McCain can use anything Obama or Biden say against Palin, or even himself, and twist it into sexism. This poses an instant problem for Obama, who is good with words but cannot possibly tell what can be twisted one way or another, and for Biden, who doesn’t exactly have a reputation for saying what people want to hear.

By picking Palin, McCain also dug into two key demographics: young people, and women. Young Republicans who may have felt alienated when their party passed on Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee for a 70+ year old with a documented history of health issues, are now being excited by the McCain/Palin ticket. Also, women now view McCain more favorably than before, even though any intelligent women would know that he was attempting to pander to them with the pick of Palin. A true feminist would never vote McCain, but unfortunately women voters haven’t come as far as we thought they had.

While the pick of Palin should not have worked and on Election Day likely will not work, for now it’s certainly interesting, and sad, to watch.