Not So Ready On Day One

Look, I'm having a lot of fun picking on the selection of Sarah Palin. Too much fun. But I actually don't dislike the poor lady. I sort of follow the James Fallows line that Palin was a wine that needed to ripen in the bottle before she was served up for national consumption. Ross Douthat clearly feels the same way, and so strongly as to sometimes appear a little grief-stricken at the spoilage she is about to endure.

However, the approach the McCain campaign appears to have taken to her selection was just all wrong. If I were a Republican I would be even more disturbed than I am now, as it indicates that the negative caricature of McCain as a grandstanding seat-of-the-pants flyboy may have some truth to it. Hilzoy has an almost unbelievable post as to the poor quality of her vetting, which she claims is only happening now.

If Hilzoy's article is accurate, and it sounds pretty credible to me, then one has to believe either a) that McCain is being very poorly served by his staff or b) that McCain is keeping them out of the loop here or just flat ignoring their advice. Actually, it occurs to me that these are not mutually exclusive alternatives. Either way it goes straight to the judgment question and inclines me to suspect that McCain is not good Oval Office material.