Think about what the Palin pick really says about how McCain views this campaign and how he views his potential responsibilities in national security.
Josh Marshall has details here. I didn't realize that she later admitted she had heard of the sexual harrassment charges against her appointee (who lasted two weeks in office) before she appointed him.
A reader writes: It is SO over for McCain. He just jumped the shark so badly I'm surprised he didn't choose Tom Cruise instead.
Not every Republican is in denial about what happened today. A must-read.
More detail that takes the shine off her apparent embrace of gay friends:
I've had a few emails on these lines today: No sooner did my best friend hear about the Sarah Palin pick did I receive an e-mail from her.
A reader has found some evidence that she has thought about foreign policy at some point in her 44 years.
"In picking an unknown, untested, half-a-term woman governor from Alaska to be his running mate, John McCain is following in a long line of reckless men who have rolled the dice for a beauty queen.
Sarah Palin and Hugh Hewitt are both enraged at the decision to list polar bears as an endangered species.
An Alaskan reader writes: Actually, Sarah Palin's children are not named for television characters. Willow is a town in Alaska and Piper is for an aircraft.
It gets better: — Stevens and Young, redux. She has distanced herself from the state’s two most popular politicians, but both appeared at Palin fundraisers during her 2006 gubernatorial bid.
It's useful to judge the veep picks as an insight into how the two presidential candidates make decisions.
John McCain first met Palin in February of this year and had a telephone conversation with her. That is the full extent of his familiarity with Palin until he spent time with her last week.
Heh: "With all due respect again to Governor Kaine, he's been a governor for three years. He's been able but undistinguished.
She didn't know about his record because he wasn't vetted. But it's part of the somewhat funny and very obscure politics of a small state with a wild frontier.
Marc asks: [Will] undecided women, weakly partisan Democrats, independent suburban women, women between the ages of 30 and 50, will now take a hard second look at John McCain because of his choice of Sarah Palin[?] I think they will.
“As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?" - Sarah Palin, a month ago.
This deserves a second note from yours truly. McCain's pick was the most pro-gay move any Republican has made since George H.
Obama's lead stretches to eight in Gallup daily. That's before his acceptance speech and before the Palin shocker.
38 million viewers watched Obama's speech: Nielsen Media Research said more people watched Obama speak than watched the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, the final "American Idol" or the Academy Awards this year.