You gotta give John McCain credit for being gutsy enough to pick Sarah Palin. The Republican Party, a party that was not too thrilled with him as their candidate, really got behind him for about a month or so. They loved his choice for a running mate.

I remember the day of the announcement. Conservative journalists shouted for joy. His was a choice that they liked.

This helped McCain greatly in the pollsat first. At one point, he seemed to be taking the lead. This made me wonder if John McCain could actually beat Barrack Obama. I mean, no one really thought the Republicans had a chance this year, given the fact that our sitting president, Mr. Bush, hasn’t exactly been scoring well on public opinion.

Palin made a great female political statement, even though she was politically unknown outside Alaska. She was attractive, smart, and seemed down-to-earth. The press immediately pounced. The scrutiny was intense as the media crawled through her personal life, her political record, her political stances–as it does with every high-profile candidate. She took it in stride.

But then the bubble burst. Suddenly voters were no longer enamored with this seemingly attractive running mate. She stopped looking down to earth and started to look nave and much too inexperienced.

I believe that the reason that voters just couldn’t fully embrace Palin, even though they liked her initially, is due to one reason. She reminds us too much of President Bush. Let’s not forget that he charmed us 8 years ago. We knew he wasn’t the smartest or experienced leader in America but we liked him. We liked what he stood for.

We’ve seen first hand the consequences of voting for someone that you like. And we need a president who won’t just go with his gut. McCain showed that he can make unwise, risky calls.

Our nation has too many problems. We don’t want bold decisions. We want smart decisions. This one decision alone, in the end, destroyed McCain’s hope for being elected.