An early election pick

From Daily News staff writer Gregory J. Wilcox:
About a year ago at the Valley Industy and Commerace Association Business Forecast Conference John J. Pitney, Jr., Crocker Professor of Politics at Claremont McKenna College, made a prophetic political observation. If the Republican party wanted to shake up this presidential election Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin would the vice presidential candidate.
He arrived at that process after a simple process of elimination.
"The Republicans needed someone who wasn't part of the Washington establishment and could qualify as an agent of change and on the other hand be accepted by the party's conservatives," Pitney said.
The other possible choice, he said, was Louisana Governor Bobby Jindal. "He's very young and looks even younger and I suspect that was a concern."
So how does Pitney think Palin has fared.
"It's been a mixed bag. On the one hand the (Charile) Gibson and (Katie) Couric interviews went poorly and that's been reflected in some of the pole numbers. On the other hand she's energized the Rrepublican Party in a way John McCain never could."