In choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate, John McCain has finally traded his dubious maverick label for a new one — magician.

Tossing Palin into the mix is a feat of misdirection worthy of Houdini. Don’t look here, he is saying, look over there.

Don’t look at my enthusiasm for unprovoked wars, don’t look at my lack of interest and expertise in our economy, don’t look at our empty treasury, or at the millions of uninsured.

Don’t look at the way the gap between the wealthy and the rest of us has become a chasm.

Don’t look at the lobbyists who are running my campaign, or at my record on veterans issues. Look over there instead.

McCain’s apparent belief that American voters, like infants, are easily distracted by something shiny is the most cynical and insulting strategy we’ve seen thus far.

His constant claims of faith in the American people must mean that he trusts us to pay attention to what he says and ignore what he does. In a situation as dire as ours, that isn’t likely to happen.