Kavon W. Nikrad backs Palin!

If you are not familiar with Race42008.com, then you are missing out on the best election coverage in the blogosphere. Over the last few years, R4'08 has built itself into one of the most widely read Republican Election blogs on the net. One of the key minds behind the site is Founder and Managing Editor Kavon W. Nikrad, who announced today that he believes Gov. Palin would have more impact than any other VP candidate. This is important to me for two reasons. The first (and most important) is that I am a long-time reader of R4'08 and have tremendous respect for what Kavon has built over there. I started lurking in their comments section several months before I came up with the idea for this blog (under the he handle "ElephantMan") and still frequent the site (now under the handle "Palin for VP!"). Secondly, Mr. Nikrad has previously opposed the concept of a Palin nomination, so this proves our point that the more people see of Gov. Palin, the more they like her.

I have reposted the full text of the column below.

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I am a Flip-Flopper...

…on Sarah Palin for Veep that is. I have overcome (cough…flip-flopped…cough) my initial skepticism and am now of the belief that the selection of Sarah Palin could have the biggest impact of any potential choice that Sen. McCain could make.

It’s not only Dave’s compelling posts on disaffected Hillary voters (here and here) that changed my mind. This really does seem to be a real phenomenon with staying power that will stretch to November rather, than just a temporary tantrum.

The turning point for me is anecdotal, so take it for what it’s worth- but the majority of Hillary voters that I am acquainted with have told me that I they are not simply sitting the election put, put will actually pull the lever for John McCain in November. And to the very last one, they have echoed the sentiments of this irate Hillary voter, independently of one another.

I was shocked to discover that my wife’s gay, male, lifelong Democrat volunteer/activist friend (with whom she has shared many a friendly but spirited political debate with) pulled her aside to confess that he will be voting for John McCain in November. His reason is the same as the female Hillary supporter featured in the video, and is the same as that of the other Democratic acquaintances that have shared their decision with me. Their explanations have been that although they are lifelong Democrats, they cannot in good conscience vote for someone as inexperienced as Obama to be President of the United States.

And that is really the crux of the anger here, isn’t it? It not that Hillary lost, it’s that Hillary lost to someone that her supporters feel is vastly underqualified for the job in comparison. When Hillary supporters look back on their remembrances of the peace and prosperity of the Clinton years, as well as Hillary’s accomplishment of her own since she the White House and see that a three-year Senator that was representing a few neighborhoods in the Chicago area before that is poised to receive the Democratic nomination, the only conclusion that they can come to is that sexism is the root cause (this is what happens, of course, when your party is dominated by identity politics, but that is a discussion for another day).

Which brings me back to Palin. What would happen if Sen. McCain would select an accomplished and articulate Governor who identifies herself as a feminist, yet holds the values of a Center-Right Nation? My answer is that on election day, we would actually be able to hold many of these disaffected voters that may drift back to Obama or simply decide just to sit out instead.

The Veep selection is now a double edged sword for Obama. Pick a female, and he cannot shore up his main weakness in the general which is that he is too inexperienced to be CiC. Choose someone like Gen. Clark, Gen. Zinni, or Sen. Webb, and McCain can potentially pick off massive amounts of female voters by selecting Gov. Palin.

Bottom line: the veep selection on both sides is of more importance in this contest than perhaps any other in many, many years.

Best. Primary. Ever.