The abusurdity of Sarah Palin’s presence on a national ticket is becoming so obvious that it no longer appears to be a partisan question. Andrew Sullivan has been beside himself ever since McCain made his choice. But various other conservatives are beginning to sound alarms, raise questions, or even call for her to leave the ticket.
Yep - conservatives, like most other other bipedal mammals, are none too impressed with the former mayor of Wasilla.
To wit:
Kathleen Parker thinks Palin should decide, euphemistically speaking, to “spend more time with her newborn”:
As we’ve seen and heard more from John McCain’s running mate, it is increasingly clear that Palin is a problem. Quick study or not, she doesn’t know enough about economics and foreign policy to make Americans comfortable with a President Palin should conditions warrant her promotion…
When Couric pointed to polls showing that the financial crisis had boosted Obama’s numbers, Palin blustered wordily: “I’m not looking at poll numbers. What I think Americans at the end of the day are going to be able to go back and look at track records and see who’s more apt to be talking about solutions and wishing for and hoping for solutions for some opportunity to change, and who’s actually done it?”
If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself.
David Frum seems kind of scared:
If anything were to happen to a President McCain, the destiny of the free world would be placed in the hands of a woman who until the day before Friday was a small-town mayor.
Mr. McCain’s supporters argue that he is more serious about national security than Barack Obama. But the selection of Sarah Palin invites the question: How serious can he be if he would place such a neophyte second in line to the presidency?
Early Palin-backer Ross Douthat shows some good humor in admitting his misjudgement:
And now, an excerpt from my inner monologue, as transcribed while watching various clips from Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric (I can’t link to them; they’re too painful):
And that, Douthat, is why nobody’s ever going to hire you to help pick their running mate.
Jeffrey Goldberg is worried, too:
I want to wait and see Palin on Thursday night in her debate with Joe Biden; perhaps her performance in the Couric interview was abnormally bad. But I have a terrible feeling that John McCain has placed this country - and, of lesser importance, his campaign - in an untenable position.
Chillingly, David Brooks compares Palin to the Dummkopf-in-Chief:
Sarah Palin has many virtues. If you wanted someone to destroy a corrupt establishment, she’d be your woman. But the constructive act of governance is another matter. She has not been engaged in national issues, does not have a repertoire of historic patterns and, like President Bush, she seems to compensate for her lack of experience with brashness and excessive decisiveness.
Maybe we should have been listening to Alaskans all along. Republican state senator Lyda Green, for example, isn’t shy about expressing her opinion of Palin:
“She’s not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?” said Green, a Republican from Palin’s hometown of Wasilla. “Look at what she’s done to this state. What would she do to the nation?”
Thanks, but no thanks, Palin!
Somewhere, Thomas Eagleton is smiling.
