Once you look at it through the prism of the "madman theory," McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his No. 2 appears brilliant. No one saw it coming (including the McCain campaign itself, which clearly didn't vet her) and the ensuing People magazine-fueled frenzy obscured any Obama post-convention bounce as well as McCain's own flat acceptance speech. Most importantly, the Democrats had no clue how to respond -- do they attack her or ignore her or what? -- and seemed to lose all momentum as they pondered the right answer. No matter that Palin is going all Miss South Carolina (soon she'll be talking about "Russia and such as") and flopping outside of the right-wing base, because McCain has already moved onto the next bout of insanity.