"Pit Bull in Lipstick"

Now, there's a gorgeous image of Sarah Palin, McCain's pick for his running mate, all right. I can only hope he's succeeded in shooting himself in the foot. Now, if he'd chosen Condi as his running mate, I'd be worried. But this woman is so huge a mistake that the word should be tattooed in inch-high letters across her forehead. The delegates may have been smiling - some of them - but they are far to the right of most Republicans, let alone the rest of us.

There are so many things wrong with this candidacy, it's hard to list them all. What's the big deal about being a hockey Mom? That and a cup of hot cocoa will qualify her to be a VP. If she's qualified, maybe I am too:

1. I stayed home with my son for 14 years and didn't run around seeking office. Where are the "family values" here?

2. My 19-year-old son hasn't impregnated any underage girls, and he's not about to enter a marriage that has a snowball's chance in hell of success. Note, I said "hell," not "Alaska." Apparently Gov. Palin didn't impart those "family values" to her kid very well. And guess what, teaching "abstinence only" sure didn't work. I think we should send that kid a case of condoms.

3. She's under investigation for some interesting and corrupt activities as governor.

4. Her views are to the right of Attila the Hun, but she's been chosen to try and woo the Hillary Clinton supporters away from the Democratic Party. How cynical. McCain must think women have no sense at all, and will vote for a woman, any woman, even a woman who opposes everything Hillary stands for, just to see a female in high office. In short, he thinks we are idiots. I pray we prove him abysmally wrong.

And isn't it just special to hear the Republicans scrambling to blow off the embarrassing matter of Bristol Palin's underage pregnancy, by saying it's a family matter? What total hypocrites. Just suppose Obama's daughters were a little older and one of them turned up pregnant. If a major network already called Michelle his "baby mama" instead of his wife, just imagine what they'd be saying if one of his kids was underage, unwed, and pregnant.

No, it is not just a family matter when the 17 year old daughter of a VP nominee becomes pregnant and then is (surely) elbowed into a shotgun wedding with her 18 year old "baby daddy." Not when the grandma-to-be is rabidly anti-abortion, pro-creationism, and thinks the war in Iraq is somehow ordained by God. And, not when other teenagers in less auspicious circumstances might point to her and to Miss Spears as role models. (If they can have a baby at 16 or 17, why can't I?)

And, let's not forget that this tidbit was only revealed because bloggers were speculating that Gov. Palin's 5th child was actually 17-year-old Bristol's out of wedlock child. Otherwise, I'll bet the grand old Republicans would have deep-sixed that information.

Now just let them talk about Obama's lack of experience. At least he's in Congress dealing with federal issues. Palin's been mayor of a town of 6,000 people. I've seen more people sitting on the lawn in Central Park just to hear the Philharmonic. And she's been governor of a state with less than 700,000 people...and some disturbing stuff about her behavior in office is coming out. McCain sure hasn't shown presidential-level judgment with his pick. Contrast that with Obama, who picked a VP with the foreign policy knowledge he's said to lack.

Voters should see through this cynical ploy to divert women away from the Democrats, and kick McCain and Palin's hindquarters straight to the nearest curb.