CNN confirms this morning that John McCain has selected Alaska GOP Governor Sarah Palin to be his VP pick. According to many who know her she has a “dynamic personality” and came into office in 2006 with a pledge to reform Alaska’s notoriously corrupt government.

As a woman candidate, she will undoubtedly draw much attention as this is only the second time in history that a major party has selected a female VP candidate. She was also a runner-up to Miss Alaska in 1984; she is definitely an attractive woman.

The question, however, is why Sarah?

Think about the VP’s job. It’s to step into office on a moment’s notice in case the President pulls a William Henry Harrison and days a month after taking office. This is always a real possibility, but with McCain’s advanced age and prior health issues, the succession issue is even more important this year. It was especially incumbent upon McCain to pick somebody who would be ready to serve in a moment’s notice.

Is that Sarah Palin? She was elected Governor 18 months ago. Before that, she was the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. She is 43 years old and has served a fraction of even Barack Obama’s time in non-local political office. Despite her longtime support for ethics reform, she is under state investigation right now for abuse of power in the dismissal of the Commissioner of Public Safety.

The centerpiece to John McCain’s argument against Barack Obama is that he is too inexperienced to lead right now. That he is unprepared for the Presidency of the United States. Agree or disagree, that’s McCain argument.

This VP completely undercuts that argument. If McCain is unable to serve in his first term, a woman with 18 months of experience beyond the Mayoral level (and this ain’t NYC) will have to step in and serve as leader of the free world. She has virtually no public profile outside the state of Alaska and carries no major message or agenda that makes up for her lack of experience. She is attractive, athletic and has condemned the notoriously-corrupt Alaska GOP. And she is a social conservative who opposes abortion rights and so is acceptable to the Christian right (meaning her appeal to pro-choice women is limited).

But is that why she should be the VP? I get the strange feeling that John McCain watched Obama’s performance last night and decided he needed to shoot the moon in order to have a chance. He knew that a standard-issue pick like Pawlenty or Romney would not do it. Some will see this as a bold pick. It is.

But it’s also an act of desperation. McCain panicked, and once the novelty wears off, he and Palin will have some tough questions to answer regarding her appropriateness (experience, judgment, vision, etc.) to serve in the highest office in the world on a moment’s notice.