Of all the reasons not to pick Governor Palin for Veep (inexperience, her admission that she doesn't know what a VP even does, her endorsement of Obama's energy plan), the worst of the reasons is that it undercuts the long-lived perception that John McCain is "clean."
I know, I know. Keating Five. Campaign bus that allows lobbyists to do work on it. Ridiculous money from oil interests. None of that much dented the perception that John McCain is "clean" and the guy who has his name on "McCain-Feingold."
Enter Sarah Palin. Senator McCain really, REALLY has no problem with putting someone on the ticket who is under an investigation for coming down on law enforcement officials, using her official office, to get her ex-brother-in-law fired from his job as a state trooper, after he divorced Palin's sister? And not only that, but when the Public Safety Commissioner wouldn't do her hackery, she fired him?
Goodness. Sounds like she's someone who was part-time Mayor of a 6000 person town a few years ago, and got handed the keys to the Governor's office, and promptly became drunk with power that she was all too eager to abuse. Oh wait, it sounds like that, because it IS like that.
You think Dick Cheney abused his power? Just think of what Sarah Palin will do when she is handed they keys from "Darth Vader."
All of this severely undercuts the image of McCain as a maverick reformer. As much as the Republicans talk about Palin being some kind of reformer, she's anything but. She's a two-bit hack who felt drunk with power, with the little power she had as Governor as Alaska. And now you're going to put her a heartbeat away from controlling the FBI, CIA, and Justice Department?
Richard Nixon, somewhere, is smiling.
Yes, this pick seals it for McCain. He's McClean no more.