From Peggy Noonon, editorial writer at the Wall Street Journal:

"we have seen Mrs. Palin on the national stage for seven weeks now, and
there is little sign that she has the tools, the equipment, the
knowledge or the philosophical grounding one hopes for, and expects, in
a holder of high office. She is a person of great ambition, but the
question remains: What is the purpose of the ambition? She wants to
rise, but what for? For seven weeks I've listened to her, trying to
understand if she is Bushian or Reaganite—a spender, to speak briefly,
whose political decisions seem untethered to a political philosophy, and
whose foreign policy is shaped by a certain emotionalism, or a
conservative whose principles are rooted in philosophy, and whose
foreign policy leans more toward what might be called romantic realism,
and that is speak truth, know America, be America, move diplomatically,
respect public opinion, and move within an awareness and appreciation of
reality.

But it's unclear whether she is Bushian or Reaganite. She doesn't think
aloud. She just . . . says things.

Her supporters accuse her critics of snobbery: Maybe she's not a big
"egghead" but she has brilliant instincts and inner toughness. But what
instincts? "I'm Joe Six-Pack"? She does not speak seriously but attempts
to excite sensation—"palling around with terrorists." If the Ayers case
is a serious issue, treat it seriously. She is not as thoughtful or
persuasive as Joe the Plumber, who in an extended cable interview
Thursday made a better case for the Republican ticket than the
Republican ticket has made. In the past two weeks she has spent her time
throwing out tinny lines to crowds she doesn't, really, understand. This
is not a leader, this is a follower, and she follows what she imagines
is the base, which is in fact a vast and broken-hearted thing whose pain
she cannot, actually, imagine. She could reinspire and reinspirit; she
chooses merely to excite. She doesn't seem to understand the
implications of her own thoughts.

No news conferences? Interviews now only with friendly journalists? You
can't be president or vice president and govern in that style, as a
sequestered figure. This has been Mr. Bush's style the past few years,
and see where it got us. You must address America in its entirety, not
as a sliver or a series of slivers but as a full and whole entity, a
great nation trying to hold together. When you don't, when you play only
to your little piece, you contribute to its fracturing.

In the end the Palin candidacy is a symptom and expression of a new
vulgarization in American politics. It's no good, not for conservatism
and not for the country. And yes, it is a mark against John McCain,
against his judgment and idealism.

I gather this week from conservative publications that those whose
thoughts lead them to criticism in this area are to be shunned, and
accused of the lowest motives. In one now-famous case, Christopher
Buckley was shooed from the great magazine his father invented. In all
this, the conservative intelligentsia are doing what they have done for
five years. They bitterly attacked those who came to stand against the
Bush administration. This was destructive. If they had stood for
conservative principle and the full expression of views, instead of
attempting to silence those who opposed mere party, their movement, and
the party, would be in a better, and healthier, position.

At any rate, come and get me, copper.

..
--
A Harry Krause truism:

"It's not a *baby* kicking, beautiful bride, it's just a fetus!"
[A Narcissistic Hypocrite]