I feel like I should address it seriously, so here goes a simple list of thoughts I have about the pick.

First, I assume that the folks running campaigns know more and are smarter than I am. I might not always sound that way, but these folks are professionals, they have the ability to focus group and poll ahead of major decisions, and this is their life’s ambition.

So, when I say I have no idea what the campaign was thinking, keep that in the back of your mind.

I really mean this quite literally, though: I don’t understand what the Palin pick does to advance the McCain candidacy outside of the transparent ploy to blunt the “first” effect of Obama’s run while trying to pick off some women voters. The shamelessness of the ploy will, I think, keep it from being very effective.

I keep reading blog posts and articles looking for that hook that will somehow make that fact that she’s on the ticket lift the McCain ticket. I’m not seeing it, especially when you consider the rest of the picture.

Already, video and interviews are surfacing of her showing a serious inexperience with national issues. I can appreciate the fact that she was a mayor of a small town for some years and was elected to the governor’s office in 2006. Those require talent and some executive skills. The thing is that there’s nothing else there. The videos and interviews show a lack of depth on issues like Iraq, energy policy, and broader foreign policy questions.

We’ll see if she can get prepared for the debates in time. That’ll be the first real test for her, though I suspect reporters will be asking her these questions early.

Finally, and most confusing to me, is that the Governor is involved in a scandal back at home. She is accused of using her office to get her brother-in-law (who is or was going through a messy divorce with her sister) fired from his job as a state trooper. When the supervisor balked, Palin fired him. There’s talk of her being deposed for the investigation and the final report from the investigation team is supposed to come out by election day.

This doesn’t look like it’s going away, nor does it seem like a minor issue. The abuse of her executive authority would put her in a mold with the Bush administration and represents the worst of the last 8 years in the White House. The LAST thing I want to see come near the White House (or the Naval Observatory, as it were) is someone who can’t understand right from wrong on something as simple as this.

So, I’m basically confused. Ultimately, this race is about the top of the ticket, and Obama vs. McCain. The Palin selection has gotten everyone’s attention, though, and a lot of people are thinking about it instead of Obama’s speech. So, if they were after the long weekend news cycle, mission accomplished. You’d think, however, that they’d be thinking a little more long term. The scandal alone could undo this and seal the McCain ticket’s fate.

Anyone got anything else?