Rather than add a new Palin post...

I'll simply provide a link to a CBS poll, taken this month, that reports an astonishing share -- 51% -- of the GOP views Ms. Palin as unqualified to be an effective President.  I guess I posted too early.  Here's the link, if you care to review more evidence to support my suspicions about Ms. Palin as a VP choice.

Nearly forty percent of GOP doubts Palin's abilities

Glad I'm not alone. A recently-released ABC News/Washington Post poll with a sampling error of plus or minus 3% shows that not only is Ms. Palin's support waning across the political spectrum, it is also slipping among Republicans as a whole.

Like the 83% of Republicans surveyed, I believe that Ms. Palin shares my values. However, almost four out of ten Republicans (and 57% of Americans overall) also say we doubt her ability to "understand complex issues." Which is another way to say what I first wrote last November - that, as much as we like what she stands for, she lacks credentials for national office.

Sarah Palin, Wikipedia

The Washington Post quoted one gentleman, thus: "Rick Buila, 38, of Sharonville, Ohio, who works in finance and voted for the McCain-Palin ticket in November, said his opinion of the governor has changed. `I don't think that she is cut out to be on the national stage,' he said. `I look at her education and her background and the way she carries herself and her [resignation] speech, and when you have someone who's out there saying 'You betcha' about 50 times, I don't think that's the person we want to have negotiating with other countries.'

Sadly, a few blowhards will seize on a remark like Mr. Buila's "You betcha" comment and dismiss any GOP criticism of Ms. Palin as elitist, or worse. That's unfortunate and wrong. We don't begrudge her for her style, we simply believe that she is not ready - and frankly might never be ready - for The White House.

Peggy Noonan in today's WSJ & the Palin factor

Republicans might thank Peggy Noonan for explaining what some of us lack the courage to say -- Sarah Palin -- was unhelpful for the party.

I can't match Ms. Noonan's eloquence, but I can identify with what she says in this piece entitled, "A Farewell to Harms".

Peggy Noonan, Wikipedia

If you are one of my five six readers, you may recall when I just couldn't take Ms. Palin's performance any longer and consoled myself in this November 8, 2008 post. Yesterday morning, I called in to a local radio program to express similar Palin-related thoughts (Joy Cardin takes my call @ approximately 9 minutes and 42 seconds into the 8 AM program on this tape if you care to listen).

I deplore the torrent of abuse leveled at Ms. Palin and her family by the Left, but we can't trot out unqualified national candidates and expect cheap shot artists to remain mute. We need more knowledgeable, more bullet-proof candidates that can do more than just say the`right' things on cue. We need depth and agility.

I admire Ms. Palin, but she was hopelessly in over her head last year. The aforementioned Noonan piece is not a tired rant to criticize Ms. Palin's work. It's more of a description as to what is needed to rebuild the GOP. So let's end on a hopeful note - shall we? Yes we can!

Think of the Gopher State with it's schizophrenic voting populous that can elect Comic Al Franken but also install what may be our best chance for a 2012 run at the White House - Tim Pawlenty. There is hope.

Monday morning quarterbacking

If the economy, the war, an opponent with more cash and an unpopular President in office, all were not enough to doom his campaign -- any chance of victory went irretrievably south after Senator McCain selected Governor Palin as his running mate.  Bold choice? You betcha.

I was hopeful after Ms. Palin's rousing convention speech, but still worried that Joe Biden would wipe the floor with her at the debates. He did not and I kept hoping, but my heart sank after those Katy Couric interviews.  

Katy Couric's interview revealed a vacuous performance from a candidate who is supposed to be a heartbeat away from the Oval Office.  Ms. Palin will have a future in national politics, but she was not at all ready for this experience. Don't blame her, blame McCain's advisers. Having the "right views" and no skeletons, is not enough. 

Yes, Ms. Palin has a fine record as Governor, yes she appeals to my Midwestern values and yes I was invigorated by selection of a conservative woman on the ticket, but she simply doesn't know enough and she is not yet equipped to think fast enough on the national stage.  

As Peggy Noonan aptly put it in her October 17 Wall Street Journal column (Palin's Failin') -- "She just. . . says things."  

One thought for future GOP campaign strategists:  even if the research does suggest that your candidate's running mate should be a female-outside the Beltway-gun toting-strident Pro-Lifer; you must look harder than your predecessors did in 2008.