If you can deal with Bryant Gumbel...

As I was watching scenes from Katie Couric's recent interview of Governor Sarah Palin (see above), a thought suddenly popped into my head. If John McCain was so invested in having a female running mate, wouldn't the wiser choice have been Katie Couric?

To emulate the stylings of Late Night's David Letterman, I decided to create a "Top Ten List" of why Katie Couric would be a better choice for VP pick than Sarah Palin:

10. Katie Couric graciously dealt with Bryan Gumbel and Willard Scott for a good number of years. Anyone who is able to this, definitely has much inner fortitude.

9. Couric has interviewed many international political figures and celebrities during her career, including Presidents Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and First Lady Barbara Bush. John F. Kennedy Jr. gave Couric his first and last interviews.

8. Katie Couric has had her passport for years, and has actually met numerous foreign dignitaries. Okay, she can't see Russia from her apartment in New York, but nobody's perfect.

7. Couric announced on April 5, 2006 (her 15th anniversary as permanent co-host of Today), that she would be leaving the Today Show, despite a 20 million dollar a year salary offer. You to have guts to leave a cushy, comfortable, sure thing.

6. In her personal life, Katie Couric has lived with and survived tragedy. Her husband, Jay Monahan, died of colon cancer in 1998 at the age of 42. Her sister Emily Couric, a Virginia Democratic state senator, died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 54 on October 18, 2001.

5. Katie Couric has two teenaged daughters, neither of whom are pregnant.

4. Couric anchored her first broadcast of CBS Evening News on September 5, 2006. Despite numerous rumors of her losing this position, Katie has survived against her male counterparts. The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric won the 2008 Edward R. Murrow Award for best newscast.

3. Katie Couric is a Pro Choice supporter (I know the majority of Republicans don't believe in this - but this is my list - so I can put it as a positive if I choose to).

2. On October 7, 2005, Couric broadcast her own mammogram on the Today show.

1. There is no need for vetting. Katie Couric has been more meticulously vetted than any other publically known figure in the history of the United States. She underwent a colonoscopy on-air in March 2000 - the image of which was displayed - for a brief time - in Times Square. If you don't believe me, check out the Jon Stewart clip below. Who can match that kind of vetting?