No one takes this woman seriously anymore, least of all, her partisans; who see her as a colossal liability and a potential public relations disaster. And the thought of her with the missile codes and power over the economy is terrifying.

However, they are obligated to defend and praise her to cover up the excruciatingly bad judgement which led to her selection. What she gains the GOP in her folksy, small town good looks and personal charm she more than makes down for in her sheer density (not to be confused with gravitas). Then again, this does seem to be the emerging stereotypical Republican avatar, a la Reagan and Bush II; down-home, folksy, aw-shucks, but not too bright (lest they be thought elitist, of course). McCain is obviously not stupid enough to play the role, which may explain why the lady got picked in the first place.

I can't really blame the Republicans for running this girl, I must confess I was quite captivated by her myself when I first glimpsed a brief flash of thigh. But the continued dogged defense of Ms P is either a cynical rear guard action by grizzled party operatives who know she's a flake and want to hide it, or a knee-jerk spasm from the ideological faithful (like those on this board) who are flakes and can't hide it. Either way, I am shocked and awed by their galvanically spasmodic defense. Have they no shame?

I'll probably miss her debate Thursday (I'll more than likely be sailing close-hauled myself, playing Republican conventioneer in a WPB hotel lounge instead). So I'm counting on you guys to bring me up to date when I come back. And if I do catch the debate, you can count on me to give you an honest and unbiased evaluation of her performance when I return. And you know you can trust my objectivity; after all, I'll be the first to concede McCain beat out Obama by an edge last week. Toodle-oo.