McCain: "She's been commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard."

The Republican party are so bloody predictable. I said this only yesterday:

Soon, it's going to be sexist to call Palin unqualified and that elitist Obama is going to be looking down his nose at this fine mother of five.

And today I wake to this:

Republicans accused Palin's critics of being sexist in their readiness to dismiss her.

But McCain sought to alleviate fears that the candidate he has picked is under qualified with a line that deserves to be etched in stone:

"She's been commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard."

Well, that's shut me up. I never knew that. Suddenly, I can see in my mind's eye Palin facing up to Putin or taking on al Qaeda with confidence. Ahmadinejad must be shaking in his bloody boots.

"She's been commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard." Does McCain have no filter between his brain and his mouth? Is there no part of him that realises that this is a simply ridiculous defence to make?

And she's not even going down that well with the Republican supporters on the road:

After appearing with McCain at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, on Friday, Palin made her second campaign speech on Saturday near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her stop in Pittsburgh showed a vulnerability that could be a worry for McCain. Some of the audience left as she was speaking and there was booing when, in an appeal to Democratic voters to switch to McCain, she mentioned Hillary Clinton.

And the Democrats are hitting home the message that this lady is no Hillary Clinton:

In a theme echoed by other Democrats throughout the day, Senator John Kerry, the failed Democratic candidate for the presidency in 2004, described Palin as having been picked to placate the Republican party's rightwing, which is suspicious of McCain. Kerry told ABC News: "He's chosen somebody who doesn't believe climate change is man-made."

He said it was insulting to Hillary Clinton supporters to suggest that Palin, given her anti-abortion and other socially conservative views, might woo them.

The former Democratic Senate majority leader, Tom Daschle, described the appointment as "inexplicable".

"Inexplicable" is certainly a word that I would choose. Others that flash through my mind are astonishing, laughable and ridiculous.

And when McCain's defence of his choice is that, "She's been commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard", then we have surely arrived at the point where his campaign has become a national joke.

Oh, the usual nutters can be relied upon to defend this madness, but surely any reasonable Republican or independent who ever debated whether or not to support McCain is now heading for the door. Only the most extremist, diehard Republicans could put themselves through the mental dexterity necessary to convince themselves that running the Alaska National Guard is sufficient preparation to become President of the United States.

It's a joke. And it's a sick one at that.

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Tags: McCain, Palin, Obama, Biden, US election 2008, Alaska National Guard