With all due and considerable respect for those who urge us to forget about Sarah Palin and focus immediately and exclusively on John McCain, they're wrong. In the long run, yes, we must focus on McCain exclusively. That time is not quite upon us, though it must come within the next week to 10 days. For the moment—and I stress the temporary nature of this advice—Sarah Palin is a valuable topic of criticism. Don't let up on her this week. It's absolutely true that McCain and Obama are at the top of their tickets and that the race will turn on this contest as opposed to the bottom of the ticket. It's true that in the last 40 days of the campaign, we must hammer McCain with every thread we post. And we should do it on the major issues that give Obama the advantage: change, the economy, health care, the economy, Iraq, etc. For now, however, McCain is using Palin as a shield. And she is an effective one only because the truth about her has not sunk in. We need to focus on her until the shield cracks. As long as McCain is able to prop up his campaign with the theme of two reformers for the price of one, his Dynamic Duo narrative will win too many votes±. Too many white female votes, in particular. The fact that McCain could die in office to leave Palin president may repulse us, but it is not an uncomfortable thought for many swing voters. The need to be made uncomfortable. The more Palin is exposed, the more her choice exposes McCain's poor judgment. The more her record receives a dose of daylight, the more voters who rushed to her support will recoil from the ticket. The Republicans won't acknowledge the truth until it's forced down their throats. And the media will abandon the subject if we just ignore Palin. Not every journalist is a Barbara Walters. Give Sarah hell for a few more days. Er, I mean, tell the truth about her. Then teach McCain the meaning of war.