John McCain used to joke that the job of a Vice President was to “inquire daily as to the health of the president.” How ironic, then, that he would pick a running mate that, for a mixture of inexplicable and apparent reasons, would steal his thunder.

When I watch the punditocracy critique the performance of politicians, I sometimes wonder if I am living in an alternate universe – a Larry David type of nightmare where I seem to see and hear things that other people breeze over or ignore.

The thing is, unlike the School of Socrates permeating the cable news networks who gave tepid praise for McCain, I flat out loved his acceptance speech at the GOP convention. I loved it more than Sarah Palin’s debutante address, which, in true form among the so-called experts, received higher marks than it deserved. And I have waited impatiently for eight years to hear McCain give this speech. It was without pretense, eloquent, and, yes, occasionally awkward. But it was the most authentic and sincerely delivered piece of rhetoric I have heard since my childhood glimpses of Ronald Reagan. It was pure McCain – passionate, chastising, humble and fiery. He reached inside the audience and grabbed our self-pity by the shirt collar and said “Wake up. You’re an American. That’s not just an adjective. That’s a responsibility.”

Conversely, I was adequately impressed by Sarah Palin the night before. I accept that I am in the minority on this. Palin was articulate, had a few tricks of delivery and a helpful hint of arrogance that seemed appropriate for her in the moment since she had been ruthlessly hammered by the media. But she’s got some work to do. I don’t doubt her strength, intelligence and ability to rise to a challenge. I respect the notion that McCain chose her because of her independent streak and his desire to deviate from the predictable. But since I doubt I am in polite company at the moment I will also put forth the infrequently uttered truth. He offered her to the GOP base as a kind of bribe or, to be more politically correct, a peace offering. You get Sarah, and I get to be myself once again.

It’s working brilliantly. But John McCain did not need to bribe me. I am voting for him, not Sarah Palin, with McCain as the extraneous side dish made more palatable by her presence. I would have voted for him regardless of who he chose for the number two spot. And I was always with him, from his first campaign in 2000 to the dark days in August 2007 when he was flirting with “has-been” status. I am not vulnerable to the cult of celebrity, nor the tedious game of gender and identity politics.

Yes I am pleased to see a woman on the ticket, but I grew up fully expecting it would happen in my lifetime anyway, so okay, great. Yet, I find it rather distasteful, to be honest, that the tabloids are turning Governor Palin into a Britney Spears of the campaign. In doing so, they fuel her “media-victim” celebrity among the Republican base. There is a looming but preventable irony here. McCain caught heat for a commercial that charged Obama with the sin of celebrity. Let not the Republicans be guilty of that same sin and give the Obama campaign a reason to deliver a similar jab.

I worry that this fascination with Palin obscures the overriding choice we have to make and eclipses the character and passion of the man who offered her the job in the first place. McCain is the one who will be making the key decisions in his administration. Palin may have the tie-breaking vote in the Senate and a bully pulpit elsewhere, but as president, McCain can send troops into combat, declare states of emergency, sign treaties, appoint Supreme Court Justices and veto legislation.

This campaign is truly historic but not because of race or gender. It’s because we really do have a clear choice this time around – a choice between two extraordinary and very different men. It’s not the choice between two leveraged, cobbled-together-for-political-purposes presidential tickets. Sarah Palin and Joe Biden may be a heartbeat away, but I am confident that both Obama and McCain aren’t disappearing anytime soon. Either of these number twos may very well be inquiring as to the health of their boss for a long time to come.