Now it's a real beauty contest.

"The longer I think about it, the less well this selection sits with me. And I increasingly doubt that it will prove good politics. The Palin choice looks cynical. The wires are showing.
John McCain wanted a woman: good.

He wanted to keep conservatives and pro-lifers happy: naturally. He wanted someone who looked young and dynamic: smart. And he discovered that he could not reconcile all these imperatives with the stated goal of finding a running mate qualified to assume the duties of the presidency "on day one."

Sarah Palin may well have concealed inner reservoirs of greatness. I hope so! But I'd guess that John McCain does not have a much better sense of who she is, what she believes, and the extent of her abilities than my enthusiastic friends over at the Corner. It's a wild gamble, undertaken by our oldest ever first-time candidate for president in hopes of changing the board of this election campaign. Maybe it will work. But maybe (and at least as likely) it will reinforce a theme that I'd be pounding home if I were the Obama campaign: that it's John McCain for all his white hair who represents the risky choice, while it is Barack Obama who offers cautious, steady, predictable governance.

Here's I fear the worst harm that may be done by this selection. The McCain campaign's slogan is "country first." It's a good slogan, and it aptly describes John McCain, one of the most self-sacrificing, gallant, and honorable men ever to seek the presidency.
But question: If it were your decision, and you were putting your country first, would you put an untested small-town mayor a heartbeat away from the presidency?..."

The writing above wasn't from some left wing democrat. It was from David Frum, darling of the neocon right, and former speech writer to rethuglican presidents. Frum was writing online for "The National Review", and he is obviously not a happy camper.

And you know what, I agree with him. I am sorry folks, but to paraphrase Frum, the more I think about this pick, the more I am thinking just how insane Mr. Morton must be. And for all the folks in this country writing on blogs, and pontificating in various media outlets about what a brilliant pick this is, I say to you with all due respect, that you must have lost your fucking minds. This pick was pure lunacy.

This woman wasn't even properly vetted for crying out loud. Right now we are hearing that she had a little scandal brewing up in Alaska, one which the rest of us down here in the lower forty eights were totally clueless about.

Now folks, you all know how I feel about this election; it is my humble opinion that his "O" ness will lose. Because no matter how good the illusion looks, A-merry-ca is not quite ready to elect a skinny Negro from the South side of Chicago, with an Arab name, president. But I will be damned if Mr. Morton didn't go ahead and give his "O" ness a fighting chance.

Maybe it's just me, but I would at least like the person who is a heart beat away from leading my country to be smarter, or as smart as I am. (She named her son "Trig" for god sake) Ahhh field, you are so arrogant and such a sexist asshole, how do you know that this woman is not smarter than you are? No fucking way! And that's not being arrogant, that's just a fact. I bet I forgot more foreign policy than she knows. Sexist? I don't think so. I don't, for instance, think that I am necessarily as smart as Hillary, or Condi for that matter. (Although I make better choices) But this lady? I am going to go out on a limb and say I have it over her in the brains department. AND SHE IS GOING TO BE THE VP? Folks, this makes the Dan Quayle pick look downright genius. And just in case you think I am a sexist; I want you to know that I think that he was a flat out idiot. And the last time I checked (well I didn't actually check), he is a man.

But hey, as they say in Hollywood, it's a wrap now.

My friends (I got that from Mr. Morton), wouldn't it be ironic if the woman who was runner up to the first African American to win Ms. Alaska, ends up losing to the first African American president of these divided states? I know, I know, one is a beauty contest, and the other is the presidency. But if you think about it, what's the difference?