Meet Pro-Life Gov. Sarah Palin.

Within a couple of hours of the surprise selection of pro-life Gov. Sarah Palin to be pro-life Sen. John McCain's vice presidential running mate, we were asked by The Hill newspaper to post a response on its blog. Here are the first two paragraphs of what I wrote:

"The selection of pro-life Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was a twenty on a scale of one to ten. The 44-year-old mother of five will accomplish what very few vice presidential selections have ever done: fundamentally change the dynamics of the contest for President.

"From our single-issue perspective, pro-life Sen. John McCain could not have chosen a more compatible, more exciting running mate. The short-hand phrase is 'ardently pro-life.' Gov. Palin is, and much, much more."

Weeks later, few would disagree with either assertion: that Gov. Palin had upset pro-abortion Sen. Barack Obama's well-laid plans by snatching away the "change" narrative and that she and Sen. McCain comprise a near-perfect team. That was not the consensus at the time.

The Obama campaign team and the media (essentially one and the same) sang off the same dismissive, sexist, one-note sheet: Palin was the "former mayor" of a small town (no mention that she was governor), so inexperienced it was almost beneath them to excoriate her. Needless to say, they roused themselves and savaged Palin and her entire family.

So vicious was the onslaught that neither the Palins' fifth child, born with Down syndrome, nor their oldest daughter, who, it was learned, was unmarried and pregnant, escaped the barrage of hate. Even those of us who remember the scurrilous campaign waged against Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork were shocked by the venomous attacks.

But sometimes what goes around really does come around. As I write this story, the wheels seem about to come off the Obama bandwagon.