John McCain needs the Religious Right to show up on election day. They are the foot soldiers of the Republican party at election time--before Sarah, McCain couldn't attract the army of volunteers the Repubs are accustomed to having. But with Sarah on the ticket, the Christianists are back on the bandwagon. She is their hope for theocracy in their lifetimes.

But McCain doesn't tolerate fools gladly. And he's not sympathetic to the Religious Right, no matter what he's saying right now. I'll bet that if he's elected, you'll see him asking for her resignation within 6 months. The first Troopergate indictment, or embarrassing moment on TV, and he'll ditch her. He only needs her for the next 6 weeks.

Again it's the situation of diminished expectations for Palin. She is completely untouched by the tragedy of brilliance and no one expects anything resembling that from her. As long as she can attempt to string words together in a semi-coherent fashion (her basic inability to do so was hilariously parodied by Tina Fey in a recent SNL skit) and not look like the total moron that she is, Republicans will scream that her debate performance was fantastic.

It was the same thing with G.W. Bush in his presidential debates. As long as he didn't obviously drool or crap his pants in front of the camera, everyone said he did a great job.

How sad that most Americans are so willing to settle for such deliberate, aggressive mediocrity in their leaders. No one personifies intellectual bankruptcy and pathetic, abject incompetence more perfectly than Palin.

Seriously. Palin is their choice and they need to dance with the one they brung, so to speak. Three weeks ago, Palin took the Republican Convention by storm, gave a rousing and very confident speech, and the general consensus was that she had solidified the Republican base for McCain. This strategy ensured that virtually all Republicans would be voting the ticket instead of wandering off elsewhere. Not only that, any number of conservative pundits were quick to point out that she had more executive experience than *anyone* on either ticket; this woman was supposed to be *it.*

I guess we can abandon the criticism that the left-wing media is out to get her if some of the same people who hailed her selection are ready to throw her under the bus in just a few short weeks. No, I do not think Palin is vice-president ready. Even her executive experience has been achieved in a state that is so unusual -- not that this is Alaska's or her fault -- that she has never had to deal with the tough budget issues that all other governors face. That's her luck, but it doesn't prepare her well for the rough-and-tumble of the lower 48 state issues. Doesn't the party need to stick with her?

re: ..."McCain's stubborn judgement" (that won't consider/permit a vp change)

yipes! we've had 8 years of stubborn judgement! especially in iraq, it did a lot of harm to the country.

People get the government they deserve.

Act interested next time, eh?

The depths of American voter stupidity never cease to amaze me. Remember, this is a country where millions of people believe a big man in the sky created the world in six days, literally, and where millions still believe that W is doing a mighty great job. Besides, many of them also believe the world is going to end soon. Despite abundant evidence that a Palin-McCain administration would utterly destroy what remains of the country, this election is going to be extremely close, and with the certainty of vote suppression and outright fraud by local Repug hacks, we very well might be inaugurating this dipshit as vice president in January.

Be wary of overconfidence. Palin could shock us all and put a few words together to make a cogent answer. And at this point, the bar is so low, if she could do that, she would win the debate. So, please Mr. Schaller, let's assume that McCain's team will do a halfway decent job of preparing (educating) her, and she'll come out as that feisty hockey mom that the(far) right loves.

Only when she fails do we celebrate. Until then, assume the worst.

Bluecatt

...then dumping Palin is a decision that makes itself.

But then, it's NEVER been "Country First" with John McCain. Those words were nothing more than just another campaign tactic. As was pointed out to Sen. McCain in last Friday's debate, there's a huge difference between strategy and tactics -- something HE just doesn't understand.

Bleating "Country First", when you obviously put yourself and your interests first, moves far beyond simple campaign rhetoric. It becomes a true obscenity that puts this country at risk.

I don't think she'll"botch"the debate.

As I understand it, the debate "format" will help her gloss over her knowledge gaps. I think she'll recite enough talking points to satisfy the Right that she can talk the talk.

And there's a high likelihood that Biden will say something less than sterling, which will give the Right an excuse to say "See? She's not so awful!"

Which is not to say those of us un-enamored of her won't cringe,or chuckle, every time she opens her mouth.

"And this is a moment of real high anxiety, a little bit like 9/11, when people look to Washington for comfort and leadership and want to know that people in charge know what they are doing."

I think after 8 years, Americans have learned how to get used to knowing that the people in charge don't know what they are doing. In fact it would seem there is a significant % that prefer it.

You can bet on it.

Yes, she's astonishingly ignorant and a redneck simpleton, compared to her, GWBush seems like a Left Bank intellectual and there lies the problem. The expectations of her are so low, that if she managed to blurt out the names of two leaders during the debate, and I can guarantee that she'll some sort of a microphone on her, ala Bush in 04, she'll be declared as either the winner or that she held her own against a 36 years Washington insider.