Palin's New Granddaughter: The Storm Swells

The GOP has always been proud of its family values.  Now it has a slightly larger family to share those values with.

In another turn in this soap-opera of an election year, McCain's freshly inked VP pick, Sarah Pallin, is having a granddaughter.  Yipee.  Oh, and her daughter is 17...yipee?

Out of wedlock, young, and the daughter of a staunch conservative, Bristol Palin (apparently the Palins are NASCAR fans) will bring in another dash of drama to a GOP convention that is slowly turning into a disaster greater than Gustav.

The hurricane is stealing the thunder (literally) from the convention, and, I believe, at a gut level is reminding what other instances the Republicans and a massive storm in New Orleans have occurred recently, and how they felt then.  

When we do or see something in conjunction with something else, we remember that something else everytime we do or see the same thing over again.  In Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) this is called 'anchoring'.  For example, if you point your finger when talking to someone about love, anytime you point your finger, that person will start to think of love and go from there.  Or, if you see a Republican party on the TV at the same time you hear about a hurricane in Louisiana, many will subconsciously go back to Katrina.  This may not happen, but an easy association could come about.

So what about this new granddaughter?  They are going to keep it they say (duh), and will support her daughter all the way through.  They will even volunteer to throw her a baby shower and register her at Target.  Do they have Target in Alaska?

McCain made a blunder when he picked Palin.  She is such a transparent choice, that he now has to make the case for her on top of making the case for himself and against Obama.  Biden does not need to sell himself; he is Biden and he has his support locked.

The Convention starts today for the Republicans, so expect a lot of flags, a lot of 'patriotism', and a lot of borderline offensive attacks on Obama.  Expect a lot of mud being slung around--and I am not talking about Hurricane Gustav.

lhp