It's a cliche that the Vice President is "one heartbeat away" from the most powerful job in the world.

But in John McCain's case, it's more than a cliche: both his father (70) and grandfather (61) died suddenly of heart attacks.

So who did McCain choose to be "one heartbeat away"?

The 44-year-old first-term governor of the second smallest state who is embroiled in a corruption scandal and has no experience in Washington, in military affairs, or in foreign policy. What on earth was McCain thinking?

1. She's not a Mormon. Sorry Mitt, but the GOP's Southern Baptist and evangelical base just wasn't that into you.

2. She's not a Jew. Sorry Joe, but the GOP Country Club still has its standards.

3. She's not a white male. Sorry Tim, but this just isn't the year of the Average White Man.

4. She's not old. Sorry Kay Bailey, but you're no longer hot. (Kay Bailey just told CNN, "I really don't know that much about her." Meow!)

Sarah Palin once competed for Miss Alaska, so she's definitely hot. But she has no qualifications to be one heartbeat away from the Presidency while the U.S. is fighting two wars and on the brink of two more.

Did McCain choose a Vice President of the United States - or his third wife?

No wonder Cindy keeps all the money and houses in her name. She's a lot smarter than the rest of the Republicans, who made the mistake of their lives in "marrying" John McCain. She knows that a man who ditched his first wife for a pretty young woman would do the same thing again - in a heartbeat.

Hopefully the American people will have the good sense not to make the same mistake as the Republicans.

Update 1: As Kos writes, McCain is slavishly pandering to the Huckabee/Dobson wing of the Republican Party.

We already know she is virulently anti-choice. But did you know she is a creationist?

The volatile issue of teaching creation science in public schools popped up in the Alaska governor's race this week when Republican Sarah Palin said she thinks creationism should be taught alongside evolution in the state's public classrooms. Palin was answering a question from the moderator near the conclusion of Wednesday night's televised debate on KAKM Channel 7 when she said, "Teach both. You know, don't be afraid of information.

Two years ago, Palin was part-time mayor of a village of 7,000. Today, she's supposedly ready to step in to run this country in the eventuality that Sen. McCentury can no longer perform those duties? Right. This was a sop to the Right, which was unwilling to accept a pro-choice Republican on the ticket, and a pathetic and hilariously desperate effort to grab the 17 holdout PUMAs (who are fake Democrats already willing to vote for McCain anyway).

Did Karl Rove pwn McCain by manufacturing the fake PUMA controversy?

Update 2: If McCain loses Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan, who does he have left?

• Joe Scarborough: "I can't imagine a woman that's been a governor for a year and a half, but to debate Joe Biden on Georgia, a re-emerging Russia, an emerging China and India, on the Middle East, my God, how does she do that?"
• Pat Buchanan: "Biggest political gamble I believe just about in American political history...that is not hyberbole.  I can think of no choice of VP that approaches this."

Update 3: Josh Marshall summarizes Palin's own Troopergate:

Her brother-in-law is a state trooper who is in the midst of an ugly custody battle with her sister. And she's accused of getting the state police to fire him. Recently she was forced to admit that one of her aides had done this, though she insists she didn't know.

Update 4: If Obama is a secret Muslim in the fevered minds of rightwingers, is Sarah a secret Socialist?

She’s been very “nanny-state” in some of her dealings in Alaska, especially a failed attempt to keep a big Alaskan state-owned dairy open after it became hopelessly uncompetitive and her insistence on raising the State’s share of oil revenues as a form of windfall tax then passing it on to citizens in windfall payments. Now, where have I heard that idea recently?

Update 5: Just one month ago, she had no idea what the VP even does (video here), and her only interest in the job was helping Alaskans:

“As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day? I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here for the rest of the U.S., before I can even start addressing that question.”

Update 6: The first two days of the Democratic convention were dominated by the GOP talking point that Hillary's supporters were bitter over Obama's victory and subsequent refusal to choose her as VP. So will that story dominate the first two days of the Republican convention?

the Palin pick left bruised feelings among the short-list contenders who were not picked -- and infuriated some Republican officials who privately said McCain had gone out on a limb, unnecessarily, without laying the groundwork for such an unknown. Two senior Republican officials close to Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty said they had both been rudely strung along and now "feel manipulated."

"They now know that they were used as decoys, well after McCain had decided not to pick them," one Republican involved in the process said.

Update 7: Nice email from Florida Democratic Party chair Karen Thurman:

Heartbeat from the Presidency

John McCain rolled the dice with his VP pick today - in an attempt to woo women voters.
But we cannot gamble with women's lives.

Don't let your friends, family and co-workers be fooled: Alaskan Sarah Palin is a dangerous right-winger who lacks the judgment to lead.

In 2000, Palin endorsed Pat Buchanan for President. Yes, that Pat Buchanan.

In 2006, Palin ran for Alaska Governor on a message of change - and then turned out to be just another corrupt Alaska politician who's now under investigation in her own state.

She's no Hillary Clinton. She's Dan Quayle in a dress.

Women voters who care about equal rights, choice, family and other issues, will not see a partner in Palin.

She is lockstep with Bush and McCain on issues important to women. Every one of them. That's scary.

The corrupt trio of Ted Stevens, Don Young, and Lisa Murkowski all raised campaign money for Palin.

John McCain claimed that Barack Obama lacked experience. Then he picked a VP who has just 20 months at the helm of a state with a population smaller than the city of Jacksonville, and zero foreign policy experience. Palin would be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Barack Obama is ready to lead. Last night he showed us what the next American President will look like. He and Joe Biden will deliver change we need.

I especially like the Pat Buchanan part - Florida voters remember his accidental but devastating role in the 2000 stolen election all too well.

Update 8: Will Paulin really appeal to evangelical moms? desmoinesdem has serious doubts:

I am not convinced these rank and file members of the religious right will celebrate Palin's selection. They believe women should be homemakers who homeschool their children, and they think feminism and the trend toward working outside the home is undermining "Biblical womanhood."

No matter how enthusiastically the Republican pundits welcome Palin, I suspect that many social conservatives will feel she should be at home, taking care of her special-needs infant and schooling her older children.

Very interesting...

Update 9: Even rightwing bloggers are appalled:

• Jonah Goldberg: "She may not be ready for primetime. The heartbeat-from-the-presidency issue is a real one."
• Ramesh Ponnuru: "Inexperience. Palin has been governor for about two minutes. Thanks to McCain’s decision, Palin could be commander-in-chief next year. That may strike people as a reckless choice; it strikes me that way. And McCain's age raised the stakes on this issue."
• Katherine Jean Lopez: "As much as I loathe Obama-Biden, I can't in good conscience vote for a McCain-Palin ticket. Palin has absolutely no experience in foreign affairs. Considering both McCain's advanced age and the state of the world today, it is essential that the veep be exceedingly qualified to assume the office of president. I simply don't have any confidence in Palin's ability to deal effectively with Iran, Russia, China, etc. I certainly will not cast a vote for Obama-Biden, but nor will I vote for McCain-Palin. Looks like I'll either sit this one out or vote for Bob Barr. Why, o, why, didn't McCain listen to Rove and just pick Romney?"

Update 10: Only the Piety Pimps who run religious right fundraising scams are happy:

• Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council and James Dobson's political hatchet man: "Senator McCain made an outstanding pick from the choices that were on the table. Sarah Palin clearly addresses the issues so many conservatives are concerned about. It balances out the ticket. She's also really a checkmate for the Democratic Party because folks who were looking to make history for Barack Obama can make history by voting for John McCain in seeing the first woman elected to the vice-presidency. It was a very strategic move by John McCain."
• Mat Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel: "Absolutely brilliant choice. John McCain could not have chosen a better vice-presidential nominee that Gov. Palin. She is attractive, articulate, conservative, pro-family, pro-life, and pro-marriage. John McCain hit this one out of the ballpark."