We have found the antonym of "Mother Jones"

She is Sarah Palin. Oh, my aching head. I simply cannot imagine how McCain thought this would be a plus for him. Demographic echoes of Spiro Agnew: To be fair, Agnew was 50, a WWII veteran, and a member of the bar. Still, they're both so very fresh out of local politics, just first-term governors, and Palin comes ready-made with an ethics investigation whereas nobody discovered Agnew's crimes until after he was elected. And of course some will remember Geraldine Ferrarro: Picking a woman because she's a woman shouldn't appeal to anyone.

But most importantly, McCain chose a pro-oil, anti-choice, pro-gun, creationist far-righter—someone who is close to being as reactionary as you can get in America and still get elected. The fact that this pick will make the Focus On The Family crowd happy should scare the rest of us.

Republicans love to talk about experience—and as I've said before, American's don't always value experience highest or we never would have wound up with Bill Clinton or Abraham Lincoln. But they only talk about it. Republicans promote judges, prosecutors, and candidates who aren't qualified, so long as they carry the correct anti-civil-liberties, pro-business, party-first cards in their wallets.