... you all are making the classic mistake: under-estimating your opponent.

Wait till the debate, when everyone discovers that the "beauty queen" actually has a brain. Ooooooh, you guys didn't think that was possible, did you?

You said: "And the reason won't be policy related, it will be because Democrats just don't get people who don't think like they do.

So many of the posts here are anti-women and anti-poor people. So many on the left just look down on anyone below a certain income, and hate those above another artificial level.

There's nothing wrong with being a truck-stop waitress. Nothing at all. What's wrong is if there are barriers that prevent someone from doing something else. But it's that persons choice.

Yes, people will vote for the Republicans now because there is a women on the ticket. Exactly as there are blacks and others who are voting for Obama simply because of the color of his skin. This is because both represent a departure from the norm.

No matter what, come next February, the elected Executive branch of the United States Government will not consist exclusively of White Men.

We will have either a Black or a Women as part of this historic event.

But instead of embracing this, Democrats are resorting to petty name calling, saying Palin is a beauty queen, which is exactly like calling Obama just a basketball player."

I completely agree with you. You spoke the truth. Everyone else might as well just shut up because they can't get more insightful and truthful than that post. Thanks for writing this.

Make no mistake: Palin was not some random, token choice by a desperate party. It was a deliberate, well-thought out move to deflate every argument the Obama and the Democrats are using against them. Experience doesn't matter? Of course it doesn't--not any more! Out of touch? Not us--our girl is a hockey mom who actually buys gas! We hate strong women like Hillary, but now we can co-opt the "18 million cracks" line for our very own! And if we attack Palin, we're piling on a poor women with a disabled kid. I'm stunned that so many Dems are dismissing this move as insane and political. Wake up, and remember the Rovian 101 lessons from '00 and '04. This is a calculated and dangerous move, and we must fight back, hard and without mercy. They will show no mercy to us.

I'm so tired of pundints second guessing every decision. Do you think Obama should drop Joe now and take on Hilary? Too late even if it were a good idea. It would be so nice if the self-appointed experts would stick to analyzing the candidates various programs and projects, and, in context, their voting history. Now that's info I can use.

This kind of speculation, on both the left and right, is useless to helping this country decide who should be our next president. It's no better than the polls of some years ago that asked "Who do you think is going to win?" rather than "Who do you think should win?".

I live in a town (city, technically) of 8200 and I can tell you unequivocally that our mayor is not ready to be vice president or president. Not because she (or we) are stupid hicks, far from it. Governing a town of 8200 compares in no way with being second in command of the USA. Do you really think small-town Alaska is just a microcosm of the US and it's foreign policy affairs?

Perfect example: Palin has been quoted as saying she doesn't have much of an opinion on the war and the surge in Iraq. Maybe you can get away with that as a small-town mayor, but not as VP.

The defining question in determining tokenism is in reversing roles. Hence, would McCain had selected Palin as his running mate were she male?

I asked it in another thread, and 100 comments later not one post addressed this essential question. One could argue that any First is a token, but there's a huge difference between an Obama and Clinton -- who underwent a long, arduous vetting during a tough primary campaign -- and someone appointed who had never done anything substantially proactive to earn a position (one face-to-face meeting several months previously and a single phone call later doesn't exactly equate to what Obama and Clinton had to do). Whatever Palin's attributes, and I'm sure she has many, this appears nothing so more than an impetuous, reckless and pandering selection -- one which is so cravenly devoid of logic as to call into question McCain's judgment (and, for that matter, Palin's for accepting).

Have we not had enough evidence of the consequences of hubris in the White House?

"A mom knows better than any man the price of a young soldier's life."

Sheer sexist tripe. It assumes a father doesn't feel equally because he doesn't publicly cry like women are allowed to do. It's like saying blacks don't feel pain equally when they refuse to act hurt when whites hit them.

"A mom knows better than any man what an economy is really for."

Again, more misandric tripe. It assumes men work at shitty jobs not for families but for "glory."

"A mom knows better than any man how to juggle many important priorities, and get them all accomplished."

Does her "juggling" consist of using government/husband-generated money to pay for nannies, daycare, man-made time-saving appliances that permit her not to work full time? Does it mean a divorced father kept from seeing his kids by a vindictive ex doesn't "juggle"? Who says part-time working mothers (who have others help raise their kids) work MORE than males in offices/mines/factories working 60+ hours a week? And who says women accomplish all they set out to do when they are spared metrics and performance appraisals?

"A mom knows better than any man what national security really is all about."

A non-combat-facing mom knows about as much about national security as a non-birthing dad knows about bringing children into the world.

What do they call folks who say men are smarter, wiser, harder-working, etc. than women?

"The healthiest families have a mom that shares equally in decision-making..."

...AND shoulders half the resulting loads without complaining.

"it is time for our country to have the same healthy arrangement of power."

Agreed. So what is Palin's stance on males sharing equal power IN the home?