Editor’s Note: A longtime journalist, Margo Howard went into the family business (her mother was the fabled Ann Landers) in the 1990s as Dear Prudence. Her broad experience and understanding of human nature provide answers for the troubled — and entertainment for everyone else. Click here to read her column on Yahoo!

This election is not a face-off between Democrats and Republicans anymore, but a showdown between decency and manipulation. Why, exactly, is Sarah Palin rising in the polls and creating such a sensation? And what, precisely, are the McCain followers impressed by? The Republican faithful answer: She’s beautiful, she’s tough, she’s gutsy. So? She is, more importantly, inexperienced and from a nowhere state with extremely different conditions than the lower 48. This very good-looking woman who sounds like she’s right out of “Prairie Home Companion” has caused Republicans (who don’t particularly care for McCain) to go wild with enthusiasm. My question is: What kind of moronic electorate votes for people who “excite” them? They say they are “energized.” But you might ask yourself why, and about what? This is a woman who is an affirming presence for those who believe the Bible is our actual history and that Darwin was wrong, but we are talking about the government here, not a Fundamentalist elementary school.

If the Republicans were to be honest, with any concern for the common good, they never would have picked someone who was merely surprising, different and a babe. They call it a “bold choice.” Cynical is more like it, and rather insulting, if you think about it, to the perceived intelligence of their base. Do you think for a minute that a qualified Republican woman like Kay Bailey Hutchison could have caused this commotion, where women would run out to buy the same glasses she wears and start wearing their hair the way she does? And the McCain handlers have the nerve to talk about celebrity worship? Who in hell wants the focus on the No. 2? (Well, maybe an old guy with a dicey health history.)

Much of our citizenry has turned some loony corner where, were they told she belonged to a coven and drank blood , either wouldn’t believe it or they wouldn’t care. John McCain has mockingly picked a running mate who is now walking the red carpet as Queen for a Day, and who appears to have trademarked the word “lipstick.”

I have a radical idea: Ignore the promises we’re hearing. Ignore everybody’s promises. They don’t mean dick. Go with the man you think is a clear thinker, dedicated and able; not just someone who so desperately wants to be president that he will gimmick up the ticket, even at the cost of subordinating himself to the No. 2. If he succeeds with this crass maneuver, you ain’t seen nothing yet.