You have to give John McCain credit. He won the news cycle on Friday. Unfortunately, he royally shot himself in the foot while doing it. There went the mother of all political trump cards. The so-called “experience” factor, which for the past two months he has never tired of reminding us.

It has been oft said that the choice of a vice-president is the first presidential decision each candidate will make, and I’m not even going to bother with links and footnotes here. Everyone already knows the story about Palin. McCain met her once. He subsequently spoke to her once on the phone, then made his choice. What does this say about McCain, that he was willing to put this relative novice one heartbeat away from the presidency? I am reminded of Bush’s early comment about Putin. He looked into the man's eyes and could see the man's soul. Well, the ability of John McCain to look into the soul of Sarah Palin has the same incredulous quality about it.

Just as a mind experiment, imagine Sarah Palin to be a man instead, but with the same lack of knowledge in  international affairs. Wouldn’t there be fireworks then? This may not represent the very first case of reverse discrimination in politics but it sure rates right up there. A guy could feel slighted. All women should, to have this sort of patronizing bone thrown in their direction.

But more on all that later…

I had been purposely sitting back this past week, allowing events at the Democratic convention to play themselves out and thinking it was probably best to hold my tongue. There were already enough talking heads picking at the “as yet to be born” carcass. The Clintons were sure to make mischief. That seemed to be the primary refrain, followed closely by is Obama ever going to punch back?

Of course, once the convention actually got under way, the ensuing laments were all too predictable. The whole thing was dull, uninspired. Where were all the balloons and waving flags for God’s sake? And as if to have their cake and eat it too, the pundits couldn’t help but note how the entire affair was short on substance.

Well, lo and behold, though the many hours of speechifying were indeed plodding at times, the seeming chaos slowly progressed towards a measured and well thought out crescendo. From the down to earth chutzpah of Montana’s Governor Schweitzer to the roar of elder statesmen Al Gore, from Hillary hitting it out of the park to former President Clinton’s ringing endorsement, you couldn’t have scripted a more thorough healing of the rift within the Democratic Party, or a more thorough staging for Barack Obama’s speech on Thursday night. And finally, there was Barack, standing astride the world’s stage, the fulfillment of the Martin Luther King’s “promised land” unfolding before our eyes, that more perfect union to which Abraham Lincoln had alluded finally coming to pass. I must confess, I got a little something in my eye.

In all that stunning imagery and historic pageantry, it was all too possible to overlook the most compelling aspect of Obama’s speech. That for the past several months, as the right wing droned on and on about his lack of experience, and everyone on the left wrung their hands over Barack’s unwillingness to fight back, he had been patiently waiting, knowing full well a dramatic moment  awaited him wherein to answer those attacks in an imcomparable fashion.

I marveled and thought. Now, isn’t that the sort of long range strategic thinking we’re looking for in a President?

To those in the center, and even those on the right, I would say, weigh Obama’s measured demeanor against McCain’s desperate Hail Mary in picking Sarah Palin for a running mate. In a sad attempt to shake up a moribund campaign and steal the fire from the Democrats’ thunder, McCain recklessly proposed to a political bride like a drunken sailor in a waterfront tavern. And for that, we got Harriet Myers with beauty pageant credentials, Gale Norton with a chirpy countenance, George Bush in high heels.

There is much giddiness in the air today on the part of the evangelicals, but they may want to stop their gushing long enough to hear the more sober voices in their own party. Gone is McCain’s most important political leg to stand on, that white-haired father figure role, which so comforted all those who trembled at the specter of another 9/11 and would rather their sacrifice constitutional rights than to embody the very ethos to which they hearken as a constituency. Home of the brave. Land of the free.

They might also want to consider, while allowing themselves to wax so giddy. The real possibility exists. After a few more unseemly revelations about Sarah Palin, McCain, the drunken sailor, may be forced to ask his new political bride for that five dollar ring back.