Republicans peddled their deep respect and admiration for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (Wasn't she the GOP antichrist just a few weeks ago?) and said it was certain Clinton Democrats would want to support Palin.
That last tortured political construction was appearing more unlikely by midday Friday, when video surfaced of Palin calling the New York senator "a whiner."
You have to wonder why McCain went to such lengths to surprise the media and the world.
Operatives for two of the vice presidential also-rans -- Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty -- groused they had been "manipulated" and strung along to shroud the real choice.
And why this endless yammering about the vice presidential picks? Some of the coverage is valid of Palin and Democrat Joe Biden. After all, the vice presidential picks stand a reasonable chance of ending up in the Oval Office. But the wall-to-wall coverage seems grossly out of proportion to the significance of the office.
The 24-hour cable stations, in particular, remind their audiences that even vice presidential nominees as shaky as Dan Quayle seldom affect the outcome of an election.
Then, scarcely pausing to catch their breath, they plunge ahead with another round of speculation about what it all means.
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james.rainey@latimes.com
