The not-entirely-surprising revelation today that Marco Rubio may not be considered by the Romney campaign for vice president after all also revealed that the VP short-list has been narrowed down to all boring white guys.
Marco Rubio represented the best hope for token ethnic diversity for Mitt Romney, and according to one Romney adviser, it's unlikely they'll nominate another woman. Why? Because of Sarah Palin.
In particular, few women except for New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte – a freshman lawmaker from New England with only scant federal experience – are thought to be under consideration by Romney.
"I think unfortunately, Palin poisoned the well on that," said one informal Romney adviser, fretting that any woman selected as VP would draw inevitable comparisons to the former Alaska governor. "I would guess if I were inside the Romney mind that they're worried that any woman chosen will be subjected to a higher level of scrutiny. "
Because the Republicans decided to nominate a raging idiot for vice president during the last presidential election, a woman who was chosen for no reason other than the cynical, sexist assumption that she would draw former Hillary Clinton supporters to John McCain's side, the Republicans are now hesitant to nominate another woman because they're afraid she might be another Sarah Palin.
That would seem to be both an admission that Palin was chosen for token diversity and that the Republicans really do believe all women are idiots. Why else would you be afraid that the next woman you nominate will be compared to Sarah Palin?
The McCain campaign literally found Sarah Palin on Google. She was barely vetted at all. Does the Romney campaign really believe they can't find a woman who isn't just like Palin? Because that's what this implies.