I guess it is obvious by now that the selection of Sarah Palin as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate has severely damaged McCain's run for the Presidency. I must say this fact makes me feel a bit better about my fellow Americans. Thankfully there are still Independents like Froma Harrop (the author of the article excerpt that appears below) who are not interested in Bible thumping or declaring certain parts of the country more "pro-America" than others.

Independents like me wanted two things out of a McCain running mate. (1) A capable leader who could step into the top job should something happen to the not-very-young No. 1. (2) Someone who would temper McCain's recent efforts to woo social conservatives. They got neither in the Alaska governor.

Sure, Palin gave him a bump in the polls right after the Republican convention. She gave a rousing speech, written by a crack speechwriter. But once on her own, she quickly displayed a shocking ignorance of world affairs and a general inability to talk coherently on policy matters. Her habit of dividing America -- even individual states -- into good and not-as-good sectors comes off as downright weird.

Just look at the poll averages dating back to early September. The McCain-Palin numbers started cratering about a week after the convention, which was two weeks before the stock market did.

Independents tend to be fiscally conservative, socially liberal and strong on defense. They were McCain's natural constituency and in mid-September gave him a 13-point margin. That lead has since flipped over to Obama, and Palin is a big reason. The choice of her as McCain's VP would have been politically brilliant had a Democrat made it.

As recently as three months ago, partisan Democrats were accusing centrist pundits of giving McCain a free pass by ignoring his conservative record. Maybe there's still an old John McCain under what we now see. But who can tell?

Obama also deserves much credit for the change in attitude. He dropped the rock-star persona and showed himself to be an informed and disciplined candidate.

The new Obama might have won over the fence sitters under any scenario, but one thing is obvious: If McCain had named Ridge as his running mate, he'd be getting a whole lot more love right now.

Palin Drove Stake into Centrist Hearts