NRO got it right.
Inexperience. Palin has been governor for about two minutes. Thanks to McCain’s decision, Palin could be commander-in-chief next year. That may strike people as a reckless choice; it strikes me that way. And McCain’s age raised the stakes on this issue.
. . .
Tokenism. Can anyone say with a straight face that Palin would have gotten picked if she were a man?
The Corner on National Review Online.
No one can legitimately argue that a woman can’t be president. That’s just stupid and would eliminate many powerful and capable candidates. Senator Clinton would have been a great choice in an election had she won the primary. The Democratic Party did not throw women under the bus; the process worked out and Senator Clinton received fewer votes.
That’s how elections work.
If it’s legitimate to run ads claiming Senator Clinton and Senator Biden were arguing that Senator Obama lacked experience, how exactly does it work when McCain picks someone who has virtually no national or international experience at all?
She was a mayor of a town with 7,000 residents -> Governor of Alaska. She ran on a reformer ticket and is being investigated for allegedly trying to get her former brother-in-law fired. That a lot of experience alright.
Rooting for Governor Palin purely on the basis of her being a woman does an equal disservice to women. President Palin? Who could honestly say that she can actually be a good president? Sexual discrimination is not over when a woman becomes president. It’s over when a woman becomes president and no one notices that she’s a woman.
This continues to be a fun election to watch.