Palin continues to cost the Democrats without saying a thing: was that the strategy all along?

I was talking with a friend who is a checkout cashier at one of the four local supermarkets I shop for the lowest prices.

And I always ask everyone I meet who they are going vote for. She had previously been undecided but to my surprise she responded today with: "What do you think?"

She had decided on Palin/McCain or McCain/Palin. And she noted all the crap that women have to take to get ahead and all that Palin has had to take in her career. It didn't help the Democratic ticket that Sen. Obama had just compared Palin to a pig with lipstick. Then Obama railed at the news media for making his comment into a big story.

But back in the checkout line with my friend, she has made her decision. That should be a warning to Democrats -- in places like Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania, too. Palin doesn't have to say a thing for Dems to lose votes. And if she responds in debates and interviews as the intelligent woman she is, look for a November election result with Obama winning by one million popular votes and still losing the electoral count and the presidency.

That's hard news to swallow, including for me. But it is where the election is turning -- right now.