In one decision John McCain has reshuffled the election deck especially in the West.

His pick of Alaska Governor and Idaho native Sarah Palin means McCain has a good chance to win Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and even Colorado that were all leaning toward Barack Obama. If she doesn’t screw up, builds on her great personal story, highlights her own maverick style and finds a way to energize social conservatives without making the election about abortion or intelligent design, she can also help him hold the South and challenge in Wisconsin and Michigan.

I know that’s a tall order. Clearly her pick has a lot of risks.

The biggest is that voters will find the two year governor and former mayor of a small town unqualified to succeed the 72-year old McCain. But the gun-toting University of Idaho graduate clearly will appeal to westerners, especially young westerners in a way no other pick could have done.

She doesn’t like people in Washington, D.C. to tell people in her state what to do. Palin wants to develop her state’s natural resources but she also is worried about climate change and has been taking action to do something about it.

Sarah Barracuda, as she was nicknamed in high school for her aggressiveness on the basketball court, loves to hunt and fish and even shoots an M16 rifle. Her parents learned that McCain had picked her while heading into remote Alaska to hunt caribou.

She used to lead the prayers before the game, served on the PTA and watches “first dude” and part Eskimo Todd win snowmobile races. No wonder she and Idaho Gov. Butch Otter hit it off right away.

When it comes to packaging she’s a mix of Helen Chenoweth and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Her mother-in-law, was an Obama fan though maybe not as much as Gov. Schwartzenegger’s wife Maria.

Democrats have regained power in the West for the last eight years in part due to the changing demographics and the Bush Administration’s top-down decision-making on oil and gas development. Republicans haven’t really had a new, young western face to counter rising Democratic stars like Mont. Gov. Brian Schweitzer.

If she doesn’t implode, Palin could hurt Democrats like 1st District House candidate Walt Minnick and Senate hopeful Larry LaRocco.

Palin may be able to step into that role whether McCain wins or not. Chenoweth was never able to shake off her image as a radical but Palin already has proven her ability to govern toward the middle.

She opposes same-sex marriage, but among her first acts in office was to veto a bill blocking health benefits for gay partners of public employees.

She’s got to explain her involvement in the resignation of Alaska’s state patrol chief and her flip-flop on the famous “bridge to nowhere” project. (She stopped the pork barrel project after first supporting it.) Eventually she’s got to show she understands the complexities of a diverse nation.

She isn’t going to attract many Clinton supporters because of her pro-life views. But she gives conservatives who weren’t too interested in McCain a reason to get out and vote.

Most of all she’s got to demonstrate she up to the task of leading the world in a very dangerous time.

But she already has developed a huge fan base, the Palinistas. They identify with a woman who first got interested in the Iraq war when she learned her 19-year-old son, Track, was going to be deployed in the U.S. Army there. The news her 17-year-old daughter is having a baby out of wedlock just adds to the feeling she faces the same struggles most families face.

Like many voters the huge issues of our time don't mean that much until they affect them personally. Now these voters have a candidate that shares their perspective.