Interesting discussion, as always. Thanks, Wretchard, for a trip back through my own memories, so comic now, so painful then, of romantic misadventures as I read yours. Fortune’s fools, indeed.

Two points I have not seen made here or elsewhere (though I may not have looked hard enough). First, this idea that Sen McCain’s choice of Gov Palin for VP may (or may not) result in disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporting females switching their vote to the GOP ticket. Perhaps the more relevant result will be that a GOP base and independents that might otherwise have stayed home are now energized – those are the votes that may have been more problematic for Republicans than angry Clinton PUMAs.
The other thought is that because of the source of the attacks against Gov Palin and her family, the resulting outrage may (quite unintentionally) accrue to Sen Obama as much as Sen McCain. Obama needed the netroots and all its lunatic fringe to win the nomination. As has been noted elsewhere, he must now move to the center, despite the risk that he will be seen as leaving them behind. His campaign can now spin that the attacks are so egregious and offensive to him, that Kos and DU and all the rest have “left him”. Fundraising for him has moved far beyond the netroots, and Gov Palin’s presence won’t help McCain in that arena as he is locked into public financing now.