Sarah Eagleton

In 1972, World War II hero George McGovern had to drop his VP nominee, Missouri Senator Tom Eagleton, 17 days after newspapers reported Eagleton's self-hospitalizations for physical and mental exhaustion, which included two eflectric shock treatments. (McGovern is still upset about Eagleton's failure to inform him.)

That was before the Internet. This week, Sarah Palin is being vetted by a virtual army of online researchers who are poring over every news story and rumor. In only 4 days, researchers have already dug up a mountain of evidence that Palin is neither qualified nor fit to be one (old) heartbeat away from the Presidency.

So how many days will it take for Palin to drop out?

If she drops out today, McCain will have a chance to present someone more qualified to his convention. But if she waits until Wednesday, the convention will turn into chaos. And if she waits until Thursday or the weekend, the convention will be an absolute farce. It's a lose-lose-lose situation.

And to make matters worse, who would replace her? South Carolina governor Mark Sanford, another "attractive" rightwinger, isn't interested. The Palin-loving conventioneers would riot if McCain picked a pro-choicer like Joe Lieberman, Tom Ridge, or Rudy Giuliani. Mitt Romney and Mike Pawlenty, who were conspicuously passed over for Palin, would look like pathetic self-hating chumps.

Who's left? Grandpa Fred Thompson, Tommy "The Other" Thompson, and the ultimate paragon of GOP family values, thrice-married Newt Gingrich. And when all else fails, there's always rightwing nutjob Alan Keyes.

Update 1: Glenn W. Smith thinks McCain has no choice but to keep her:

I doubt they will  dump her, although there remains the possibility of new facts that make her nomination impossible.  Still, McCain and his advisers know that they are probably stuck with Sarah Palin. To jettison her as McCain's running mate would mean the admission of profound and consequential errors of judgment. McCain's candidacy would be doomed.

I think they'll cite her Alaskan Independence Party (AIP) membership support as the "new fact" that disqualifies her. Digby helpfully provides the background:

The Alaskan Independence Party quotes [AIP founder Joe] Vogler as stating "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions."

Sarah supported - and her husband belonged to - Vogler's party? Just imagine the rightwing sh*tstorm if Barack and Michelle did!

Update 2: Mike Lux thinks Gerry Ferraro is a better comparison than Tom Eagleton:

they both have troubling ethical issues hanging over them: Ferraro and her husband's funky tax returns and Palin's abuse-of-power issues I believe that in the end, the effect on Palin will be exactly the same as it was on Ferraro:

• The investigation will play itself out in the media and with the opposition party
• She and her party will vigorously defend her, and she will survive, but the initial excitement of her pick will be deflated and lost
• She and her running mate will go down to defeat

Update 3: Paul Rosenberg reminds us that it's really about McCain, not Paulin:

This story from the Times has everything in it that's needed to disqualify McCain from the presidency.  His lack of character is manifest six says from Sunday.  His lack of integrity. His lack of judgment.  His lack of principle. His lack of resolve.  His lack of honesty.  His haphazard decsion-making, and his half-assed excuses, "explainations" and lies.

There is nothing in all this that's the least bit reassuring that he could handle the job of being his own campaign manager, much less handle one day in the Oval Office.  He's like George Bush without Karl Rove.  He's not a disaster waiting to happen.  He's a disaster already happening.