When John McCain presented us with his VP pick, Alaska governor Sarah Palin, his obvious discomfort--as if the Ex Lax were just about to go boom--made me wonder what he was really up to. Was he making the consummately cynical choice of this relatively unknown fundamentalist Christian female in order to sweeten the ticket for those two less-than-enthusiastic McCain constituencies? That is, is he courting Hilary's disgruntled supporters? In which case, the question is being asked (even by Republicans): Would Ms. Palin's qualifications have led to her pick had she been a man? Surely, Hilary's supporters should be resisting this appeal, dismissing it as what one wag has called McCain's clumsy estimation that Hilary's legions would "think with our vaginas." Then, there is the whiff of an appeal to what has been called the stupid constituency--those who persist in their stubborn unease over Senator Obama's ethnicity, using such coded qualms as "we just don't know what he's about." This unhappy bunch may just be in the sights of the McCain campaign as they are presented the comforting sight of a white Christian to join the Republican ticket.