You probably noticed Hillary's initial statement about the Palin selection:
We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin's historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain. While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Governor Palin will add an important new voice to the debate.
Hmmm….that's not very critical, is it? What could be going on here?
Once again, Hillary has leverage and can hold Obama over a barrel for a while here. Basically, there are three categories of people who voted for Clinton in the primaries. First, those who affirmatively adored her (mostly women but many men also). Second, those who wanted a woman president and may have had mixed feelings about her. Third, those who wanted to vote against "the black."
The third category will vote McCain and over them she has no sway. But she has sway over groups one and two, and she has the power to depress significantly whatever votes Palin's presence on the ticket may be able to deliver to the GOP. She has clearly decided that she's not ready to do that yet. She will be at some point, but you can bet she's going to make Obama wait, and make him ask her.
