Krauthammer thinks Governor Palin unqualified?

by Smitty (h/t HotAir)

This is a fascinating three minutes of your time.

K+ is completely correct on his point that the GOP has operated on a seniority system going back at least my four decades. Going unsaid in his remarks are the ringing non-triumphs of the Bush-41 1992, Dole 1996, and McCain 2008 campaigns.

Romney certainly sells a fine Progressive brand of snake oil, and can certainly give good speech, like BHO. Does anyone have advice on how to overlook the fact that the libertarian ideals of the Constitution are antithetical to the Progressive snake oil? The collectivist crap has only been bankrupting the country these 80-ish years or so. Mitt:

• I can stare at the First Amendment and ignore theological differences with you.
• I can admire your fine rhetoric and capacity to deliver a stirring speech: I joined in the standing ovation for you at CPAC with gusto. Great buildup, masterful delivery.
• But if you're not in touch with the basic concepts of Federalism, then why bother, sir?

You'd be offering the same non-choice between Obama and McCain: "Vote for me, I say 'tomato' with a long 'a' in the middle."

The comment that Governor Palin has to do the homework is also well-founded. You can complain that BHO didn't, but that just underscores the point: "We the People" let an arguably unprepared, unexamined candidate into the office this time around. Possibly John McCain over-estimated the critical thinking with which the voters would come at the question. This "Vote for the groundbreaker, even if there are some weaknesses, FML" is not the precedent you want to reinforce.

The fact that Governor Palin would be the first female POTUS really needs to be a tangential point, or we're continuing the DNA-based decision making that marred the 2008 election cycle. "Anyone not voting for X is Y!". X goes Obama->Palin, Y goes racist->sexist. The scourge of Affirmative Action wasn't completely stomped out with the Ricci decision. Playing to Progressivism just to win an election on gender is playing into their fell hands.

In the credit where due department, HRC is nothing if not cunning. She's suddenly not going to Russia. Of course, it's entire too early to connect the dots with other (scroll down a bit) "Unwelcome Distractions". But it doesn't take a prophet to realize that, if BHO is AFU in 2012, HRC will come back with the fury of a cancer that's been in remission for a few years. Possibly I could have chosen a more pleasant metaphor, but as long as the electorate favors Beltway hangtime over Constitutional fidelity, the egalitarian oxymoron "political class" shall continue to weaken all you hold dear, tumor-like.

This is my worry about Governor Palin: there will be a legitimate argument made that her resume is relatively thin compared to Secretary Clinton's. A Palin/Romney ticket will be "too weak on foreign policy, which is our number one national concern." Understand, a magic unicorn shall have recovered the economy in time for the election. Or so the propaganda shall instruct us to think. How about that General Petraeus, anyway? Has he quaffed the Progressive kool-aid, one wonders?

Full circle, then, I appreciate that K+ is seemingly immune to Governor Palin's charms. Uncharmed thinking is a Good Thing. However, Romney needs a come-to-Beavis meeting where he unloads the Progressive baggage. Either way, don't count HRC out. Or, rather, do: you're likely helping her game.

Update:
Goldberg, also, seems to hope that Governor Palin can come through, while deliberately muting the enthusiasm.