HE WAS TOO GUTLESS TO PICK LIEBERMAN AND HE'LL BE TOO GUTLESS TO DROP PALIN

Jeralyn Merritt is asking people to bet on when John McCain will drop Sarah Palin from the ticket.

I say never.

Joe Sudbay at AMERICAblog said just the right thing about the McCain capitulation that led to the Palin pick (Joe cites this New York Times article on McCain's selection process, which says McCain really, really wanted to pick Lieberman or Ridge but was effectively ordered not to):

If John McCain was truly the leader he claimed to be, Sarah Palin wouldn't be the v.p., Ridge or Lieberman would be. This was the most important decision McCain had to make in his campaign -- and he had six full months to think about it. But, McCain just could not stand up to the right wing special interests in his party. Not such bold leadership after all.

McCain made a rash, reckless, impulsive decision. That's bad enough. But, the back story shows he just capitulated when challenged by the GOP theocrats.

So we know McCain is afraid of the religious right. And we know from current news stories that the religious right loves Palin even now. (What's more, McCain has raised $10 million just since he picked her, and she's getting the credit.)

If McCain drops Palin, he faces a intraparty rebellion that's would make the PUMA revolt look like an ice-cream social. The evangelicals will never, ever forgive him. They won't send money. They won't volunteer. They might stay home on Election Day.

Maybe Palin's negatives will mount up and she'll have to make her own exit. But McCain's going to hang on to her until the end if at all possible. He won't dump her. The guy some pundits told us was so secure in his religious-right support he could buck the evangelical leaders clearly doesn't have the guts.