Rash decision, one which I'm thrilled about. She's 44 and inexperienced - perfect for a heartbeat away from the presidency. She has 4 or 5 kids, the last one of whom is 4 months old and a Downs Syndrome baby. Or is it her daughter's? Or is her daughter pregnant now and getting married at 17? And and and - I can't imagine she'll be allowed all the way to election day. McCain insults all of us over-40 women with this pick; did he really think we'd jump at the chance to vote for ANY female? 

They can't go back. McCain is Prisoner Of Wasilla.

Every day brings more proof that McCain had a poor judgement and Palin was too quick to accept. They are not Mavericks acting for the good of their country, but gamblers taking all the risks to win big.

The contrast with the Obama-Biden is obvious.

I think it's too late. Palin has no idea what she's gotten herself into but she's going to have to muddle through somehow.

The decision was made with all the deliberation of a shotgun wedding, apparently:

The NYT writes:

Up until midweek last week, some 48 to 72 hours before Mr. McCain introduced Ms. Palin at a Friday rally in Dayton, Ohio, Mr. McCain was still holding out the hope that he could choose a good friend, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, a Republican close to the campaign said. Mr. McCain had also been interested in another favorite, former Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania.

But both men favor abortion rights, anathema to the Christian conservatives who make up a crucial base of the Republican Party. As word leaked out that Mr. McCain was seriously considering the men, the campaign was bombarded by outrage from influential conservatives who predicted an explosive floor fight at the convention and vowed rejection of Mr. Ridge or Mr. Lieberman by the delegates.

Perhaps more important, several Republicans said, Mr. McCain was getting advice that if he did not do something to shake up the race, his campaign would be stuck on a potentially losing trajectory.

With time running out — and as Mr. McCain discarded two safer choices, Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, as too predictable — he turned to Ms. Palin. He had his first face-to-face interview with her on Thursday and offered her the job moments later. Advisers to Mr. Pawlenty and another of the finalists on Mr. McCain’s list described an intensive vetting process for those candidates that lasted one to two months.

“They didn’t seriously consider her until four or five days from the time she was picked, before she was asked, maybe the Thursday or Friday before,” said a Republican close to the campaign. “This was really kind of rushed at the end, because John didn’t get what he wanted. He wanted to do Joe or Ridge.”

In the final stages, two Republicans familiar with the process said, Mr. McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, emerged as a key advocate for Ms. Palin.

Mr. McCain’s advisers said repeatedly on Monday that Ms. Palin was “thoroughly vetted,” a process that would have included a review of all financial and legal records as well as a criminal background check. A McCain aide said that the campaign was well aware of the ethics investigation and that it had looked into it.

“It was obviously something that anybody Googling Sarah Palin knew was in the news and there was a very thorough vetting done on that and also on the daughter,” the aide said.

People familiar with the process said Ms. Palin had responded to a standard form with more than 70 questions. Although The Washington Post quoted advisers to Mr. McCain on Sunday as saying Ms. Palin had been subjected to an F.B.I. background check, an F.B.I. official said Monday the bureau did not vet potential candidates and had not known of her selection until it was made public.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/us/politics/02vetting.html?_r=1& partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin