ProgressOhio

Seriously? Sarah Palin for VP? It's one thing for millions of voters to put forward a sitting senator as a possible commander in chief, but for John McCain to hand-pick a first-term governor of a tiny (in electoral terms) state is bizarre.

Here are five reasons why this is a huge mistake:

1. There goes McCain's inexperience argument.

He cannot say Obama is not ready but she is. Obama started organizing his campaign for president the same month she was sworn in to lead the third-smallest (population) state's government.

2. She has no base of support.

Obama won his senate seat with 3,597,456 votes, that's more than five times the population of Alaska. He has won more than 18 million votes in a long, tough primary that tested him and prepared him. How has she been tested? She lost her first bid for statewide office, then won the governor's office with 114,697 votes, not a majority, but enough to take office.

3. The "woman card" will backfire.

She's no Hillary Clinton. And this is such an obvious ploy. It would be different if she were known to anyone or qualified and experienced.

4. Alaska, a corrupt hinterland.

Yes, she is a hard-nosed, tough reformer. But the McCain campaign will have to deal with the fact that Alaska seems like a foreign land as corrupt as Louisiana. It's longtime senator Ted Stevens will stand trial smack dab in the middle of this campaign season, and McCain may have to vote to remove him from office.

5. Was this McCain's choice?

It seems clear that McCain wanted to go with Lieberman but was talked out of it by the right wing of his party. Rove admits calling Lieberman to ask him to pull his name out. Bush lost his way because he never stood up to Rove et. al. McCain is headed down the same path.

(In case it isn't obvious, the image is a parody, although Palin has done a photo-shoot for Vogue.)