I thought McCain was giving his base what they asked for -- a conservative. And one who doesn't spend a lot of money.
Despite all the sound and fury on the internet about the disaffected Pubbie base, polling has been showing for awhile now that the Pubbie base was already solidly behind McCain and consolidating more and more as new revelations about Obama came out. McCain was pulling a larger share of Republicans (well into the 80 percents) than Obama was of Democrats (less than 75%) the entire election season until the Dem convention. This pick is getting McCain more money and may get him more volunteers, but it won’t get him significantly more votes unless Palin can appeal to female independents and PUMAs.