Watching the whole Sarah Palin saga unfold, I can't help but think of Laura Roslin from Battlestar Galactica.
On the show, humanity is all but wiped out by the Cylons. The President is killed. In fact, most of the government is killed. The constitutional line of presidential succession ends up falling to the still-living Secretary of Education -- Laura Roslin -- who is then sworn in as President. And thus begins the storyline of the improbable ascension of a lowly schoolteacher to the Presidency.
If McCain is actually elected, and something happens to him, we will suddenly have the 'Laura Roslin Scenario': someone who has been trotted out for political optics and theatre... suddenly actually sitting in the Big Chair. *Shudder*.
Now, it's been suggested that Barack Obama is nothing more than a similar bit of unready puffery stuffed into modern messianic / Kennedy-esque package. I'm not really an Obama fan, personally. I don't think there's much difference between party puppets Obama and McCain when you get right down to it. But at least by many accounts Obama's acceptance speech was a masterful bit of oratory. And at least Obama had the sense to pick a VP candidate (Biden) with an enormous amount of experience to balance out his own inexperience.
So in that sense, Obama showed good judgment -- and with the same choice, McCain showed absolutely abysmal judgment. Pile on to this the fact that McCain selected Palin in part for her appeal to the conservative base -- knowing full well that Palin's teenage daughter was pregnant. The base ought to just love that one. Again, abysmal judgment on McCain's part.
But yeah, I agree, we really should worry about Obama's readiness and lack of experience. However, it can't be any worse than the chimp currently taking the 3:00 AM calls.
And as for the 'Laura Roslin Scenario' -- it's nice story. It makes for great TV. And there is even some resemblance between Palin and Roslin. But that is where the resemblance ends. Let us hope we never end up watching this unfold in real life.