The chorus is growing.  Conservatives like Kathleen Parker are urging Palin to drop out.  And more and more people think it’s actually gonna happen; “I don’t think she’ll be on the ticket in November,” Andrew Sullivan said today.

I just don’t see it.

It’s possible if something really huge comes out, like if the claims that the National Enquirer is making pan out.  (I won’t hold my breath.)

But she currently has no viable excuses.  Her baby had Down Syndrome when she said yes.  Her daughter was pregnant when she said yes.  She had five children when she said yes.  If she said yes then, why would she say no now?

Possible answers include a) because she couldn’t handle it, b) because she isn’t qualified after all, and/or c) because McCain made a baaaad decision.

And I think that last part is what will keep her on the ticket through election day.  It’s just too fatal for the McCain campaign to admit that his first big presidential decision was such a bad one.  This isn’t about what font to use on the yard signs.  That McCain would make such a bad decision, so hastily and so sloppily (at least vet her enough to realize that she was FOR the Bridge to Nowhere, will ya?), speaks volumes about what kind of a president he would be.

So it is much safer for him to at least try to pretend that he knew what he was doing and that he made a good decision… and that would mean keeping her on the ticket.