Palin-tology, of course, being the study of all things having to do with Sarah Palin.
Picking a VP is one of the single most important decisions that a presidential candidate can make – while he’s still a candidate, anyway – so figuring out why McCain picked who he picked can give us some insights into the way he makes decisions and where his priorities actually are. At least, that’s the theory. Our conclusions are (alas) only as accurate as our speculation, so as always, you’re welcome to use your own judgement to determine how productive this exercise actually is, or (even better) to contribute speculation of your own. Maybe by the end of the discussion we’ll come up with something coherent.