August 29. Dayton, Ohio. John McCain announces his VP. And the winner is… Sarah Palin? Sarah Palin was certainly a dark horse candidate for the vice presidency. But was she the right choice? Edboard decided to take a look at the pros and cons:Pros:She’s a woman. This is where McCain is unabashedly trying to get all those Clinton supporters to vote his way. Will it work? Many democrats were unhappy when Obama clenched the nomination. Granted, Mrs. Palin is one conservative cookie. But after all… aren’t women supposed to want to vote for the woman candidate?She’s definitely conservative. Palin eats mooseburgers. She hunts. She’s pro-life. She’s Christian. McCain was iffy with that important Republican base: the evangelicals. Palin helps to solidify that group.She’s young and fresh. What better choice is there than a person who has only been governor since 2006 to shake things up in Washington and prove that McCain’s not so old school government as one might think?She’s a woman. And she’s not so unattractive. Some people speculate that JFK won the election over Nixon because of his appearance. We’ve got some pretty shallow people in the U.S. and this just might help McCain. You never know.Cons:She’s inexperienced. McCain wanted a fresh maverick, and he got one. But what he didn’t consider is that he was undermining one of his biggest arguments against Obama: he has no experience. Palin’s been governor for a little over a year. Before that? She served as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.Troopergate. Juneaugate. Alaskan Independence Party. Did McCain even properly vet Palin? Let’s examine: Palin is currently under an ethics investigation for firing the Alaskan Public Safety Commissioner. She cited performance-related issues. Walter Monegan (the guy who she fired) says he was fired because he didn’t fire Palin’s former brother-in-law and Alaska State Trooper Mike Wooten, who was involved in a child custody battle with Molly McCainn, Palin’s sister. The investigation is expected to end in October.Rumors began circulating on the Internet about Trig, Palin’s infant son, soon after her VP candidacy was announced. Bloggers claimed that Trig was actually Bristol Palin’s son and that Palin was the grandmother. Palin has since denied these claims, revealing that Bristol is currently five months pregnant. This may be a non-issue to some, but to others, her family values stance means that this is important. And teenage pregnancy is definitely not categorized as “family values.”Lastly, Palin was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party until 1996. The Party’s main stance is that the Alaskan territory was not given a proper vote when it achieved statehood in 1985. The party wants Alaska to secede from the U.S. and become an independent nation. Palin joined this organization, but now wants to become Vice President of the very country it seeks to distance itself from? Hmm…Was Palin the best choice? We’ll find out in November.