The American Spectator

AmSpecBlog

Re: Palin

By Philip Klein on 9.12.08 @ 11:03AM

Stacy, maybe you're misunderstanding me. You may be right that her performance will prove good enough for swing voters, especially given that McCain will be at the top of the ticket. But I was criticizing conservatives who are actually defending her on substance. National security is of paramount importance to me, and for nearly eight years I've had to endure a president who is utterly incapable of clearly and intellegently articulating positions that I am inclined to agree with, so it bothers me that it's happening all over again. Palin is a politician who is going to do the best that she can in such interviews to get elected, and party members are going to fall in line to defend her. But conservative commentators actually have the freedom to be honest, if they choose to be, and so it's troubling to me that those who seriously debate and think about foreign policy and national security matters can watch that performance, and actually defend it, not just on whether it is effective enough politically, but on its substance.

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Foreign Policy