...so you've got a very old candidate up against a young, untested opponent.

The old candidate had been making huge inroads by portraying his young opponent as an arrogant greenhorn without the qualifications to lead.

So - what's the worst thing the old candidate could do?

I'd say: appoint a deputy who's even less experienced than his opponent, who makes the old candidate look even older, and who might not be a terribly good president if the old man were to die in office.

This would be even dumber if the deputy was likely to generate lots of headlines that would draw attention away from the young opponent, who is overexposed in the media and needs a break from the headlines.

Of course, if the deputy was an extremist on some issues, or involved in any court cases or such like, that would be even more stupid. And dumber still if the deputy was almost unknown to the public, forcing the old candidate's campaign to spend ages filling out her biography.

If the deputy happened to be a woman, of course, you'd have to make sure you hadn't skipped over other, more qualified candidates in the search for a pretty face. Because that would also be dumb.

I honestly have no clue what John McCain was thinking.

Hm. Well, I guess someone can point to his governing experience to prove this point. And no, running a political campaign is not the same as being responsible for a town, let alone the whole state.

The population of Alaska is 600,000

If someone had been major of Charlotte NC (about the same pop.) for a year and a half, are they qualified to be US president?

Put things in perspective. His whole life, Obama was running his own PR campaign. Not once in his life he had to deliver something to the people. Reading the teleprompter, backstabbing his opponents - is all he ever done in his life.

Compared to that, running a town, let alone a state is far more useful. Don't you think?

Obama worked as a community organizer in poor Chicago districts for years after he got his Harvard Law degree instead of cashing in. Your ignorance is bliss. Listen, learn and shut your pie hole.

All right, I am ready to see some facts on what he did and what he achieved. So far, I haven't seen a single Obama-supporter who was able to explain exactly what Obama was doing there. and I remember quite distinctly that all his projects are a complete mess. He got plenty of government money for Don Rezko, and the money was wasted - but apart from that, nothing.

This will go down as one of the stupidest political decisions in history for all the reasons you stated, and more.

The hilarity of it will be that he was going after the female vote, the supposed legions of disaffected Hillary supporters. So, does he get a solid, tried and true female who kind of looks average? No, he goes for a knock out bombshell absolute nobody, who those women are going to resent. His choice is almost male chauvanistic.

What is striking to me is how unserious this choice for Veep was. He wasn't even considering if she'd be good for the presidency if he died in office. Just stunningly bad.

"No, he goes for a knock out bombshell absolute nobody, who those women are going to resent."

Lets compare Sarah's rea life achievements vs. Hillary's. For all it matters, you can add Michele Obama's achievements to Hillary's, to make it fair.

lovethebomb, what exactly is a "community organizer?" I once organized a community softball league, does that make me a community organizer?

I've also organized several fantasy football leagues with participants from around the country. Does that make me a national organizer?

'The population of Alaska is 600,000

If someone had been major of Charlotte NC (about the same pop.) for a year and a half, are they qualified to be US president?'

hey stupid. how big is delaware? i think it has three whole counties.

delaware has more chickens than people but so does arkansas.

If picking Palin undercuts McCain's message of inexperience, why didn't Obama's pick of Biden undercut Obama's message of change and reform in Washington?It's a glaring double standard.

Historical aspects aside, what the pick of Palin should do is neutralize both sides' petty arguments about experience versus idealism, and now focus on fleshing out their policies and how they will implement them.

Obama picked a VP who has been in the senate longer than his opponent, who makes the young candidate look even more green and inexperienced, and would be a complete Washington insider president were something happen to Obama.

This would be a really dumb pick if the overexposed candidate's complete lack of knowledge on foreign affairs had come up and he needed some to fill that hole in his resume.

Of course, if his VP had spent his entire adult life in the Senate, had been forced to withdraw from a presidentail race due to lying and plagarizing, and was so well known to the public that the media could produce piles of clips of the new VP praising the opponent and bashing the running mate, well, that would be REALLY stupid.

Of course, you could have solved all your problems by picking another historical candidate, who not only fills the gap in your foreign policy but brings with her 18 million votes, a unified party, and a 1-2 punch to knock out racial barriers and glass ceilings instead of picking an old, stodgy white guy. That would be REALLY REALLY dumb.

I truly have no clue what Brack Obama was thinking.

Face it. The candidates picked each other. Barack got a McCain, McCain got a Barack. We've reset the clocks at zero. This whole election will be decided in the debates. That's when America will see, side by side, the choices they have coupled with the policies they espouse.

Good point, but very few chickens actually register to vote.

"So, does he get a solid, tried and true female who kind of looks average? No, he goes for a knock out bombshell absolute nobody, who those women are going to resent."

The implications of your statement about the character of woman voters is shocking and a turn-off to the people you are trying to convince. You state that women will resent a powerful, good looking woman -- not a philandering, mini-skirted Coulter-type but an honest, hard working REAL woman with an education and children? She is quite a superhero and her pleasing appearance is just another plus. Only idiots and nazi-feminists believe that woman who don't take care of themselves are the most professionally qualified.

'"So, does he get a solid, tried and true female who kind of looks average? No, he goes for a knock out bombshell absolute nobody, who those women are going to resent."'

yeah he should have gave an ugly chick the nod. sadly most of them are democrats. if we had someone who looks like babs mckulsky or maxine waters, he would have i'm sure.

don't be hating her because she is beautiful.