That was my first reaction to the news that John McCain had selected an unknown, inexperienced governor of a tiny state. Tinier than Rhode Island by any practical political measure – we’ve got four electoral votes to Alaska’s three. North Dakota has three, for christsakes. It’s not possible for a state to be tinier or less significant as a national political entity than is Alaska. You can only tie it.

Anyway, yeah, I thought this was a huge misstep. I was jubilant. I figured by the mid-afternoon the world would have reached a consensus that McCain, trying to be all mavericky and shit, was soon to find himself in a hole at the bottom of the cliff he’d selected to walk off. Well, what do I know. Apparently the wingnuts are ecstatic. Palin is on the extreme end of the anti-abortion movement (no exceptions and all that), is a global warming denier, wants creationism in the classroom, anti-gay, and so on down the line. So, the social conservatives are excited about McCain finally. She’s got that going for her. But wouldn’t those cretins have showed up to vote anyway? They can’t hate McCain more than they fear Obama, surely?

Obviously, obviously this is a shrewd attempt to woo those mad-as-hell Hillary supporters into McCain’s corner. Except that it isn’t shrewd; it’s just obviously obvious. Nobody is getting suckered here. Still, she’s gonna try. Turning Democrats on themselves by selecting someone they felt uncomfortable attacking (a woman!) would be a neat act of political jijutsu. But this looks more like seppuku to me.

UPDATE: Uh, her name is Sarah Palin. In six months nobody will remember that.

UPDATE: This is awesome:

UPDATE: Never misunderestimate the stupidity of Slate writers.