The Bad Sarah

Bonnie Fuller has a piece in the Huffington Post about Sarah Palin that I wish I'd written. That woman is scary (Palin, not Fuller....well, actually, Fuller is a little scary, too, but for reasons related to women's fashion magazines, not international politics).

I think my least-favorite story about Palin is how, while she was mayor, Wasilla billed rape victims and their health insurance companies for the cost of the rape kit used to gather evidence. And no, they didn't change burglary victims and their homeowner's insurance companies for fingerprint kits used to investigate those crimes.

My theory about her nomination is that McCain believes that he can attract the independent and undecided votes himself (remember...he's a maverick!...not in Bush W.'s pocket at all! No sir!!), but needs someone to turn out the socially ultra-conservative voters in large numbers. By picking inexperienced Palin, he gets that running mate with far-right credentials, but without a lot of political capital she could use to challenge him. So he can run a more middle-of-the-road Republican administration without a powerful Cheney-type VP meddling in his policies.

No idea whether he's correct, but boy do I hope he's miscalculated. Having Palin one fluttering heartbeat away from the presidency is more terrifying than another four years of Bush Jr. Although you could argue that by voting for McCain, we can get both!