OK, I admit it. Sarah Palin is a great pick!

As a correspondent for the Christian Broadcasting Network reported Friday, evangelical leaders literally hugged each other "in joy" when Palin's name was announced.

Palin has been governor for two years in a state where politics are hard fought but small scale. There's no telling how she'll perform on a national stage or how she'll deal with the size and appetite of the press corps. But if she can find her footing, she could be a formidable advocate for the religious right's social agenda, particularly when it comes to abortion.

The Democrats left Denver with an abortion problem that's been given far too little attention in the mainstream media. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's inexplicably incoherent attempt to reconcile her Catholicism and pro-choice voting record on "Meet the Press" last Sunday has provoked a torrent of condemnation from bishops across the country. Some of those denunciations probably will resonate with the socially conservative, white ethnic Catholics who are disproportionately concentrated in large swing states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania.

If she's adroit enough to do so, Palin can raise the abortion question with an authority no candidate for national office has ever had.In mid-April, she gave birth to her fifth child, a son she chose to deliver knowing that he would be born with Down syndrome. She told the Associated Press that she and her husband had discussed the prenatal diagnosis but that "we've both been very vocal about being pro-life. We understand that every innocent life has wonderful potential." In other words, the antiabortion camp finally has a candidate who not only talks the talk but walks the walk.

She also brings an interesting tinge of Alaska's blue-collar, frontier libertarianism to the social agenda debate. Although she supports the teaching of creationism in public schools, Palin thinks it should be presented alongside, rather than instead of, evolution. "Healthy debate is so important, and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both," she said during her gubernatorial campaign. "I say this too as the daughter of a science teacher. ... Don't be afraid of information, and let kids debate both sides." Similarly, although she opposes same-sex marriage, as governor she vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to the partners of gay state employees.

The evangelicals ehBeth is talking about DO tend to be the more sexist, traditionalist types, though. Do you disagree with that? Focus on Family, etc.?

No sooner did my best friend hear about the Sarah Palin pick than I received an e-mail from her. It said simply: "Sarah Palin is a Bad Mother!"

I was at work but could not resist giving her a call to follow up. She told me that she was watching CNN and heard that Ms. Palin had 5 children and that one was only 4 months old and born with Down Syndrome. "How in the name of GOD, can she even think about leaving her child or taking her child on the campaign trail for 70 days?" She was indignant.

Let me tell you why My best friend Liz matters. She is 37 years old and Catholic.