After a few days of nonstop Palinmania, I think it’s worth summing up what John McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin for VP says about his campaign as a whole. While none of this is really unique, I think it’s helpful to take a step back and try to reflect on the enormity of this screw-up.

John McCain is a hypocrite and a liar - For the last few months, the McCain campaign has tried to hammer home the point that Barack Obama’s lack of experience was dangerous and that we couldn’t afford to take that sort of risk when we’re at war. If he was sincere about that concern, then there’s no excuse for picking someone with as little experience as Palin (esp. when there are scores of Republicans of either gender more qualified). The fact that the campaign is now comparing her minimal experience favorably to Obama’s just adds an ironic twist. The fact that the McCain is willing to risk throwing this country into the hands of a neophyte just proves that he never really believed his own bullshit.

The Republican base are a bunch of mindless sheep - The glee with which conservatives were quick in welcoming Palin is bizarre. She’s a religious woman from Alaska who McCain says is a “reformer”. Well, if John McCain vouches for her, then that’s good enough for them. The base didn’t know much about her because John McCain didn’t know much about her. And now that the press is doing the job of figuring out who the heck this person is that might accidentally become the most powerful person on Earth, they’re quick to regurgitate the new talking points (The press is hostile, sexist). I’d love to see how many of these McCain supporters would answer in the affirmative to this question : “If John McCain died today, should the GOP nominate Sarah Palin to be their Presidential candidate?”

The McCain campaign is politically inept - Most of the more embarrassing revelations from the past week could have been anticipated early if the McCain campaign had been smart and done what the Obama campaign did with its VP rollout, which is float a series of trial-balloons and see how the press and base react. They seem to have done this with other candidates, just not Palin. Granted, a fake leak would spoil the element of surprise, but it would also spare them the cover of Us Weekly. Another glaring oversight is the fact that the McCain team is still pathetically underprepared to defend Palin’s record. A competent vetting team would have a list of possible complaints about Palin ready on the day of her announcement and carefully worded talking points for each one ready to disseminate to the press. Instead, they’ve spent the last few days in bunker mode, keeping their VP candidate away from interviewers and declaring that they aren’t going to answer any more questions about their “thorough” vetting process.

John McCain is irresponsible - There’s a reason you keep hearing the phrase “heartbeat away from the presidency” over and over. The VP choice is not one to be taken lightly, yet it seems that John McCain chose Sarah Palin on a whim without taking the opportunity to get to know her in depth and figure out what sort of president she might be. In the most important choice a presidential candidate can make, John McCain showed himself to be lazy and impulsive.

John McCain is an asshole - After everything else mentioned above, he still has the gall to push the “Country First” theme? What a dick.