That one word best sums up McCain’s foolishness and recklessness. Sweet judgment.

Sarah Palin. Pretty face. Neat story. Good person.

But she’s no Hillary Clinton. Hillary’s backers didn’t just vote for her because she was a woman, but instead because she was a woman who was a champion of women’s rights. Palin is nothing of the sort. That’s what makes this pick condescending to women. Hillary voters didn’t want just any woman–they wanted Hillary. I don’t think Sarah Palin will appeal to them. But I know Joe Biden–who wrote the 1994 Violence Against Women Act and has been fighting for women his entire career–will. I know Michelle Obama, a real champion of our daughters, will. I know that much.

Additionally, she has no foreign policy experience. Also, the little town she was mayor of before recently becoming Alaska’s Governor was about the same size of the crowds I played in front of as a high school football player back in the day. Is this the person we want to be a 72 year old’s heartbeat away from being Commander-in-Chief? That’s an argument that I’m sure Joe Biden is willing to have.

Yes, it is a neat story. I’ll give you that. But like Obama said last night, this isn’t about them–it is about us. Like Biden she has a neat story. Like Hillary she is a woman. Like Obama she is fresh and a dynamic speaker. But that is all she has in common with the powerhouses of the Democratic Party.

When it comes to the issues, she’s just like Bush, Cheney and McCain. Sarah Palin may look different, but in the end she is more of the same disguised as a pretty little Trojan horse. Maverick my ass.

Here are six people or groups of people who paved the way for the Obamas during my lifetime. I’m 29, so this is post-MLK era. This list was also not created to exclude anybody, but instead to celebrate some of my personal choices:

6. Tiger Woods -

One of the first multiracial celebrities who transcended race. He’s the most popular golfer by far despite golf being the most lily-white sport we have.

5. Will Smith -

He’s the first black actor to become Hollywood’s biggest star. The fact that he’s had a record eight $100 box office-grossing movies in a row proves that.

4. Michael Jordan -

As a kid, growing up in Springfield, MO, a Southern MO town, Michael Jordan was the most popular athlete by far. There were more Air Jordans floating around my grade school than Bart Simpson T-Shirts. He achieved mainstream acceptance among whites like no athlete before him.

3. Oprah Winfrey -

Without Oprah Winfrey, I don’t think either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton would have made this far. No question about it in my mind.

2. Jesse Jackson -

What he did in 1988 built the foundation for BHO’s historic campaign. Period.

1. The Huxtables -

After seeing Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha on stage talking to their father over the TV, I couldn’t help think about the Huxtables. If the barrier is broken, and the Obamas move into the White House, Bill Cosby and the rest of the show deserve some credit for putting some cracks in that glass celing. For a lot of white families, the Cosbys proved that a black family could be just as American as the Cleavers or the Seavers. Without Phylicia Rashād’s Clair–who was also a lawyer, and devoted mother and wife on the show–a lot of America would not be open to Michelle (and not all of America is–yet!). I also couldn’t help thinking of little Rudy Huxtable when Sasha blurted out, “hi, daddy!” I’m guessing I wasn’t the only one.

This is what John McCain and Co. have in store for them…

I’m starting to hope so. We could know some time today. Stay tuned…