I have lost all respect I had left for McCain (Score 1)

To realize how irresponsible, desperate, and cynical this pick was, all you have to do is imagine the reaction if the roles were reversed, and it was the Democrat ticket that did this. Their campaign would be over instantly, as it would be correctly viewed as absurdly bad judgment unworthy of a Presidential candidate.

And to put into perspective how outrageously irresponsible McCain is being with the welfare of our country and its citizens, these are the qualifications of the person he is putting a 72 year-old heartbeat from the presidency:

- Her "mayor" credentials were for a town of about 6000 people. That is smaller than the town where I went to high school (which had about 350 students), and we were viewed as the hicks-in-the-sticks school.

- Her only meaningful government experience is less than two years of being governor of a state of 650,000 people (about 1/5 of the *city* I live in), which has never had any real economic challenges.

She has zero foreign policy experience. Zero experience outside Alaska, which is a state that practically runs itself, since 80% of its revenue comes from a single industry. Her social views are at the extreme end of the right (she even opposes abortion in cases of rape and incest).

And perhaps nothing demonstrates how unqualified and inexperienced she is --and how cynical and desperate the pick was --than the fact that McCain had never bothered to meet this person he claims is ready to be president until a few hours before the announcement was made.

However, because conservatives are willfully blind to the Republicans party's glaring dishonesty, incompetence, and corruption, they almost universally view this horribly irresponsible Hail Mary as a wonderful development.

Until the Republican party is brutally punished at the polls, they will never change, and the country will continue to suffer.