The Obama campaign was quick to respond to John McCain’s surprise selection of Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) as his running mate, releasing this statement this morning:

Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Governor Palin shares John McCain’s commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush’s failed economic policies. That’s not the change we need, it’s just more of the same.

This statement was nothing if not laughable.

The current Governor and former mayor tapped to be the GOP number 2 boasts at least as much experience as the Democrats’ number 1, a current freshman Senator and former community organizer and state senate back-bencher whose entire foreign policy resume consists of a “courageous” speech he gave against the Iraq war, to Iraq war opponents, in 2002 — and more executive experience than anybody on either ticket.

Further, if the Obama campaign really wants to try to use the “more of the same” Washington-insider argument against the Governor of Alaska, and in favor of their #2, who is a 36-year veteran of the U.S. Senate whose son is a lobbyist — well, I guess that’s both their prerogative and their own electoral funeral.

(Incidentally, while the language “John McCain put [Palin]… a heartbeat away from the presidency” is supposed to instill fear — you know, the Politics of Fear the Ds accuse Republicans of campaigning on, while dropping Fear Words like “Rove” and “Bush” like candy — the phrase itself almost sounds as though he is conceding the election to McCain; after all, Palin isn’t a heartbeat away from anything at all right now, nor will she be unless JMC comes out ahead on November 4.)

“Mr. Ahmadinejad, I’d like another try at that response; I don’t believe my first accurately communicated my feelings…”

Perhaps realizing after a few hours of thought (you know, like all executives are given before responding to anything important) how sour-grapes and sexist his initial statement sounded, Obama revised and extended his remarks (what? You can’t still do that as wannabe President?) to include a backhanded congratulations to the Governor and mother of five, saying “the fact that she will soon be nominated is one more indicator of this country moving forward” (funny, I thought this country had been moving farther and farther backward; didn’t Obama recently give a speech focused on just that situation?).

The second try may have been better, but Obama’s got to be using up his sack of Mulligans, doesn’t he? Or does he think the grace borne of media infatuation will follow him into the White House, and allow him a 12-hour-later follow-up call to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after the latter has let fly a missile or three toward Israel?

President Bush still catches flack for the infamous Seven Minutes of inaction after he was informed of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center on 9/11/01. Does Obama really think he will be allowed a dozen hours, and two or more tries, to formulate a somewhat appropriate response?