Time for more time with the family?

Have you heard the news? Some people don't think Sarah Palin is qualified...and it's not just Democrats.

I suppose there was similar feedback about Dan Quayle though in 1988, without the 24-hour newscycle and the Internet, the chatter would have been limited to the halls of politics and the print readership of a given newspaper. Now, with every article accessible immediately and every quote available on YouTube, the backlash against Palin is really quite remarkable. Of course the Democrats were going to go after her for her lack of experience but the growing noise from Republicans makes it worth listening to (not that I think she's going to decide that "she wants to spend more time with her family") as does the concern about McCain's decision-making ability.

Palin Problem - She’s out of her league.
Kathleen Parker, conservative and National Review columnist observes:

Palin filibusters. She repeats words, filling space with deadwood. Cut the verbiage and there’s not much content there. Here’s but one example of many from her interview with Hannity: “Well, there is a danger in allowing some obsessive partisanship to get into the issue that we’re talking about today. And that’s something that John McCain, too, his track record, proving that he can work both sides of the aisle, he can surpass the partisanship that must be surpassed to deal with an issue like this.”

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.

And there are reports that the McCain camp itself isn't too thrilled right now...

McCain Camp insiders say Palin "clueless"
From the website of radio host Ed Schultz:

Capitol Hill sources are telling me that senior McCain people are more than concerned about Palin.

The campaign has held a mock debate and a mock press conference; both are being described as "disastrous." One senior McCain aide was quoted as saying, "What are we going to do?" The McCain people want to move this first debate to some later, undetermined date, possibly never. People on the inside are saying the Alaska Governor is "clueless."

Of course, this could all be a means of lowering the bar for the upcoming debate. The Obama camp is doing it right now in the opposite direction, trying to raise the bar for her and lower it for Biden.

And a view from a non-conservative columnist...

Palin is Ready? Please.
Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria comments on Palin's response to a question about the proposed financial bailout:

Palin has been given a set of talking points by campaign advisers, simple ideological mantras that she repeats and repeats as long as she can. ("We mustn't blink.") But if forced off those rehearsed lines, what she has to say is often, quite frankly, gibberish...

This is nonsense—a vapid emptying out of every catchphrase about economics that came into her head. Some commentators, like CNN's Campbell Brown, have argued that it's sexist to keep Sarah Palin under wraps, as if she were a delicate flower who might wilt under the bright lights of the modern media. But the more Palin talks, the more we see that it may not be sexism but common sense that's causing the McCain campaign to treat her like a time bomb.

Can we now admit the obvious? Sarah Palin is utterly unqualified to be vice president.