“6 things Palin pick says about McCain “

A headline to warm every Democrat’s heart: and from VandeHei and Harris, no less.

With that question, you know you’re going to like the answer:

1. He’s desperate.

2. He’s willing to gamble — bigtime.

3. He’s worried about the political implications of his age.

4. He’s not worried about the actuarial implications of his age.

5. He’s worried about his conservative base.

6. At the end of the day, McCain is still McCain.

One aspect of the pick that didn’t sink in to my mind right away: it completely backfires as a way to neutralize the age issue.

Not only does she look like she could be his daughter (or, worse, his trophy wife), but her evident unpreparedness for the Oval Office immediately raises the question of how likely she would be to find herself sitting at the big desk if the ticket were to win, and thus on the age-specific mortality table. That’s not where McCain wants the voters’ minds focused, but he just succeeded in focusing it there.