Yeah, on the face of it, it's an innocuous question but when that camera is in your face and you're acutely aware that the the entire nation will be watching your every facial expression, listening and scrutinizing your every word, you're thinking about every word that's coming out of your mouth and it's easy to choke in a situation like that if you're inexperienced in that type of setting.
I'm just sayin... Do I think she was ready to be VP? Probably not. But I think she does have the smarts and the right attitude and could be groomed for the job with a few more years of experience under her belt. Maybe if she does get elected to the Senate, she'll get some more experience and have the poise and polish that we expect from our leaders in this style-over-substance era. Although the flipside of that is, as Lurker mentioned--she'll lose the "Washington outsider" image that was one of her selling points this year.
i agree she would have been ready in 2-3 years. But I think Romney, Pawlenty, Huck, Biden, Obama, mccain, and Clinton would have been ready immediately. With mccain's health concerns, his back-up needed to be a Pro. Palin has potential, but she wasn't a cold professional.
I disagree about the 'freezing up for the camera'.
She was a newscaster and spoke live for thousands of viewers every evening. She did lots of TV while running for governor. She reportedly declined prep for that Couric interview - she thought she was ready. It's not just that question - it was her being flustered that bothered me. Both Couric and Gibson rattled her. They both stumped her. If Obama or Mccain didn't know what the Bush doctrine was, they would have asked Gibson to explain it. Palin defended it, THEN coudln't define it.
She was a talented bullshit artist IMO. QUITE confident but spent those years raising a family at home - while her peers were getting their political polish.
