McCain's Hail Mary Pass

McCain's Palin Pick has been widely seen as a gutsy, risky and effective (to date) decision to jump-start his campaign and give him a shot to win. I am not the only one who uses the "hail mary" pass (in football) analogy, but I do want to offer a unique extension to this analogy for insiders:

The "hail mary" pass that is the Sarah Palin pick for VP is merely in mid-flight. The coach (Rove & the Republican Machine) made the call that the team was not going to win playing conservatively, so he instructed the quarterback (McCain) to throw the long pass with the hopes of a huge upset.

As with any hail mary pass in football, it is quite exciting to watch no matter which side you're on. It's gripping, it's gutsy, and by golly it's what being alive is all about. But, it comes with quite a low chance of success. And all indicators are pointing to the fact that, in this analogy, Team Obama has plenty of defensive men down field to scuttle the lone Team McCain receiver.

The point of all this? We can use the hail mary pass as a universally accepted analogy, but when we talk about it, we should be advancing the notion that they are usually unsuccessful, and that the pass is still in mid-air. We don't yet know how the decision will play out in the end, but it's looking grim when you see just how desperate Team McCain was to pin all of their hopes and dreams for a win on a rookie, cocky, untested wide receiver.