Mr. McCain's advisers said Friday that Mr. McCain was well aware that Ms. Palin would be criticized for her lack of foreign policy experience, but that he viewed her as exceptionally talented and intelligent and that he felt she would be able to be educated quickly.

"She's going to learn national security at the foot of the master for the next four years, and most doctors think that he'll be around at least that long," said Charlie Black, one of Mr. McCain's top advisers, making light of concerns about Mr. McCain's health, which Mr. McCain's doctors reported as excellent in May.

Yeah, ha ha, I'm laughing, too. Sure, aside from being a cancer surviver, his advanced age and probable physical deterioration of his body that was damaged in 60's aside, he's in great health. Kidding aside, we are mortal. I remember Paul Tsongas, God bless his soul, who assured us in 1992 that he was cancer free, only to succumb to a reoccurance a few years later.

We've been reatively lucky when it comes to the physical well-being of our presidents. FDR was the last to die of natural causes while in office. But Ike and Johnson suffered from heart ailements and JFK quietly coped with Addison's. We are mortal and so is John McCain. As someone who has a real chance of becoming president, he owed it to the American people to present a Vice President who was at least as ready as Dan Quayle was in 1988 (and he was more ready than ever given credit for). On this test, McCain failed us.