It has long been said that the choice of a running mate is the most important decision a Presidential candidate will make.
Well, Donald Trump's selection of Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his vice presidential nominee speaks volumes about just how dangerous a Trump Administration would be.
Trump picked a man who built his career on his attacks on women, on seniors, on children, on immigrants, on the LGBT community, on working families and on the environment.
He picked a man who in 1998 - decades after the medical establishment had publicly warned of the dangers of cigarettes - insisted that "smoking doesn't kill."
He picked a man who proudly claimed that "global warming is a myth" and has opposed every effort to protect the American people from the threats of climate change.
He picked a man who was the architect of the GOP's strategy to shut down the government to defund Planned Parenthood and deny lifesaving health care to millions of women and their families.
He picked a man who says he "longs for the day that Roe v. Wade is sent to the ash heap of history" and signed legislation making Indiana one of the most anti-choice states in the country.
He picked a man who would put our seniors in jeopardy with a risky, Wall Street-backed scheme to privatize Social Security.
He picked a man who wanted to steal funds from fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic for homophobic and discredited gay "conversion therapy."
He picked a man who, as governor, slashed funding for higher education so he could give more tax breaks to his corporate allies.
He picked a man who put his own state's economy at risk by signing a hateful law to allow businesses to discriminate against gay people.
He picked a man who pushed legislation that would have denied citizenship to many children born in the United States to immigrant parents.
He picked a man who opposes raising the minimum wage and has waged attack after attack on working families with union-busting laws.
He picked a man who voted twice against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and also voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work.
He picked a man who puts the interests of the NRA ahead of the safety of the American people, even signing a bill to allow guns in school parking lots.
He picked a man who was forced to apologize after comparing the Supreme Court ruling upholding Obamacare to 9/11 - one of the darkest days in American history.
Former White House chief of staff John Podesta, who chairs Hillary Clinton's campaign, was absolutely right when he called Pence the "most extreme" vice presidential pick in a generation.
Even before today, we knew how dangerous Donald Trump would be for this nation. We knew it from his insults, from his divisive statements, from his self-congratulatory tweets, from his demagoguery.
But his choice today is an important reminder of just how critical it is to keep this disastrous Republican ticket from getting anywhere near the White House.