Let's put aside for a moment the charges of tokenism. Let's put aside the ties to the corrupt Alaska political machine. Let's even put aside the experience issue (frankly, I continue to believe that there is no set litmus test for presidential experience). So, putting aside all of those things, why do I think Palin was a bad choice for McCain?

Simple. She makes him look bad.

She is, to put it simply, more exciting than the top of the ticket. She has more energy, more character, and certainly seems to have more class and moral fortitude. I disagree with nearly all of her policy positions, but at least she, unlike McCain, genuinely seems to hold them. She is a fresh face in a time when that seems to be something that the American people want, and she has a reputation, deserved or not, for being a popular governor and a reformer. Honestly, if the suspected corruption doesn't turn anything up, she could have been a damn fine presidential candidate in four or eight more years. However, all of these things make her a terrible vice presidential nominee.

She reinforces every perception about him. She makes him look old, dull, unexciting. Some people on this site have commented that he looks like her father. I think that's being overly generous to Senator McCain. I just saw them together on an internet banner, and he looks like her grandfather. Rather than bringing change and outside-the-Beltway cred to the ticket, she just provides a contrast to McCain's lack of those things. When you put Obama and Biden together, they look like a team. You can sense the respect and camaraderie they share. Put Palin on a stage with McCain and they look like two people who've never been in the same room together. The pairing reeks of the politics of convenience.

So how do we counteract her? This is just my opinion, and I'm hardly a political operative or scholar of any kind. But what I feel will work is this: ignore her. Address her when you have to, but otherwise focus on McCain. He is the weaker side of the ticket, and we need to maximize the trouble he has tying himself to even his own vice presidential candidate. We need to emphasize the vast differences between the two of them. The image that the Obama campaign should be creating is of a strong, united ticket on one side and an uncomfortable union of political necessity on the other. The republicans have been trying to paint the Clintons as reluctant to embrace Obama; now it's our turn. Let's make it clear that McCain and Palin wouldn't have anything to do with one another if it weren't for the McCain camp's desperation. Let's show the media a real party in disunity.