Talking politics on a marketing blog may not be the smartest thing, but this isn't about politics.

It's about politics as a marketing case study.

From a marketing perspective, McCain's choice of Sarah Palin is pure genius. (Note, I said marketing perspective).

• Story
  McCain labels himself as the "original maverick." In making a pick that defies all conventional wisdom, he reinforces that image.
   
• Story Part 2
  In every politician's life there are things that are less than perfect, but Palin's high level 'elevator pitch' of mother of 5 (the last one with Down Syndrome and born while she was governor) plus one in the Army quickly says "I get working mom's" more than anyone else could.
   
• Differentiation
  By selecting a true Washington outsider, McCain directly attacks one of Obama's core tenets of "Change." Obama, McCain, and Biden can all talk about how they want to change Washington, but that rings hollow, since they are part of the institution. Palin says, "remember the bridge to nowhere? I rejected it."  She's got more credibility than the other 3 combined with that one sentence.
   
• Timing
  Much of marketing is about timing. Riding on the heels of Obama's historic and monumental performance and coming out with something HUGE and indeed, Remarkable, is definitely impressive.
   
• Calculated Risk for Market Share
  Yes, taking the Governor of Alaska who has limited experience is a gamble. May be a big gamble, actually, but given his market position (current polls aside) he needed to do something to say "we're not the same old, same old" of two white men. By picking a woman, McCain is matching Obama on the "historic impact of the election" card.
  
• Play Off Your Competitor's Efforts in Market Creation
  In this case, the competitor is Sen. Clinton. She started the ball rolling with the "18 million cracks" and laid the foundation for the idea that a woman could be chief executive.  With her out of the race, McCain could swoop in and say "yes, Clinton was right.. A woman could be the chief executive and in 4 years [probably], here's who it will be."

Again, this post is not a political endorsement.