I find it nothing short of amusing when a person complains about how candidates repeatedly badmouth other candidates. Especially the ones who seem to be completely supportive of one party regardless of the person ruinning for it. I seem to recall a certain Hillary Clinton bashing the hell out of Obama for a year or more while running for the candidacy. Then pulling a 180 and speaking praises of the man and how he would be the best thing to happen to this country as president. Hmm... poitics at work here? Maybe just a little. Both parties are going to do what will make them look best to the voting public. In the Dems case it was having a woman who had gained the support of a huge number of incumbents and voters, withdrawing and basically handing over all her cards to Obama with a sopportive hand. For the Repubs they needed to someone to relate to the public and get them off the idea that McCain is too old to be president for this country. That was Palin. This country is not ready for a woman to be president yet. So what better way to prepare them for that than to have a woman be VP? Seems like one hell of a strategy to me. By the time that Palin is ready to run for President she will have become a household name by simply being VP and just like with Hilary or "Bilary," whichever you prefer, will have already gained a popular vote. Women will vote women regardless. Unless they have been personally attacked by her and have some reason to hate her, they will like her because she has power. And women live to support other women who have more power than a man. What better way to gain that support than by having a female VP at your side to come out guns blazing and yelling to high hell about anything? Excellent strategy on McCains part if you ask me. Even better strategy is Palin's approach to the mud thrown in her face about her daughter. Openly admitting that her family is screwed up and disfunctional. That just covered 80% of American families. You just gained a relationship with all those people regardless of whether or not they planned on voting for you. People like to be able to relate to something because it makes them comfortable. How many times have you been somewhere and you see something familiar in an unfamiliar place? Immediately you have something common ground to talk about that you know about. It is a powerful thing.