John McCain had so many excellent choices. If he really coveted a female presence on his ticket, there were so many better choices he could have made, choices that were politically aligned with his party and were already very well versed in the languages of the day, including economics, energy, technology and the environment. Here’s three easy choices, each one being better than the selection he made. And this is from a guy who really doesn’t know jack about politics (despite the constant posts on the topic).

Meg Whitman. She slid into the driver’s seat at eBay when it was just a cute little site and turned it into the biggest thing ever in the history of the planet. Revenues at eBay under her guidance went from $4 million in 1998 to $1.83 billion in the SECOND QUARTER of 2007. Put another way, she grew the company to 2,000 times it’s revenue from when she took over. She knows how to run things. Was considered a potential running mate, but McCain’s “divining rod” pointed north to Alaska. Spoke at the Republican convention.

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Christine Todd Whitman. Not Meg’s sister. New Jersey’s first and only female governor. Republican. Saw her on a PBS show discussing the current political landscape and thought she was brilliant. She has a consulting firm specializing in environmental and energy issues. She’s a director at Texas Instruments and United Technologies. She was selected to run the EPA under George Bush and did it for a couple years before resigning. Probably a good move.

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Carly Fiorina. Another businesswoman. Knows how to run a big tech company as well as anyone. I watched with great interest when the business magazines chronicled her rising to power in one of the biggest computer electronics companies on the planet. Thought it was great as a push on the glass ceiling. Got the boot from HP’s board of directors, but she got the shaft on that. Made a courageous move to merge with Compaq, and the company probably has the position it has now as a dominant player in the PC market because of the moves she made while driving the bus. Stupid board. By definition, understands economics on a large scale. Is currently a top economic advisor for McCain (though this begs the question of whether McCain is listening to her, but makes it that much more frustrating that a more qualified person was sitting in the same room with him for months).

So there’s three great choices from a political know-nothing, without even trying. All three with more relevant cred than Palin. But he hahd ta pick da beeooty queen thet tahks like Marge Gunderson dair.