What the Palin choice tells us

I've been saying all along that the McCain camp is running scared; regardless of the 'soft poll numbers'. His announcement this morning of Sarah Palin as his running mate proves it. On one hand he is trying to appeal to the mythical disaffected Hillary voter; he is also trying to appease the nuttiest of the right-wingnut crowd; she's virulently anti-choice & a creationist to boot; and he is trying to look hip.

Too many messages with one pick; they can't all work and I think the only one that will is the wing-nut appeal. Biden is going to shred her in the debate. She's young which may backfire since that will only highlight just how old he really is. I know I'm bordering on age-ism here and I really do not mean to. Yes, I do believe 72 is too old for the high-office in the land; but it is so much more than just his chronological age. It has to do with his inability to adapt to a changing world. Her youth also undercuts the republican talking point of Obama's lack of experience; she's three years younger than Obama and has much less experience. I'm not quite sure how being the Mayor of a town with 8,500 residents and Governor of a state with fewer than 1 million residents (670,000 to be exact; according to the Dallas Morning News) translates into being a viable candidate for the Vice Presidency of the United States. Does she even know what a real city is? Has she ever been in an 'inner-city'?

I'm sure we will hear all about her five kids; especially her youngest, afflicted with Down's Syndrome. Again, being a mother is a noble calling, but does is qualify her to be on the national stage? More telling is the belief she has in creationism-seriously. So what does that mean for quality science education in the US? I'm surmising that does not bode well for aspiring doctors and medical researchers not to mention biochemists.

McCain-Palin bad for Women bad for America. This election season just got a lot scarier and we have so much more at stake today then we did even last night.