Dick Polman writes:

When a presidential candidate chooses a running mate, he reveals something important about himself. The VP announcement is the first golden opportunity for the electorate to assess the candidate's thinking, and the process by which he makes decisions that could substantively affect the nation.

Yet, at such a crucial juncture, who did John McCain come up with? Sarah Palin, who is so problematical that the McCain campaign had to spend most of Labor Day releasing odd little factoids about her, while being forced to defend her on several other fronts. In the words of one McCain spokesman (and he actually said this), "We are going to flush the toilet," which strikes me as a distinctly unflattering way of saying that the Palin nomination has not yet passed the sniff test.

Very true. The selection of a VP is not just about choosing a 2nd in charge that is more than capable of being 1st in charge at a moment's notice. It's also about being given a chance first-hand to observe how the presidential candidate arrives at decisions, how judgment is exercised to make crucial choices. Based on the Palin pick and the resulting fallout, one cannot be too impressed by McCain's process of getting from A to Z.