A Bold Pick

Yuval Levin acknowledges Palin's drawbacks, but is ultimately pleased:

The biggest drawback for me is that she has no more foreign policy experience than Obama and fairly little (though, as Mark points out, more than Obama, Biden, and McCain combined) executive experience. I don't quite agree that foreign policy experience doesn't matter, and I think concern about that has had a lot to do with the success of the "he's not ready" charge against Obama--it's not only because he has so little political and governing experience in general, but also because it's terribly difficult to see him in charge of American foreign policy in a crisis. It's at least as difficult to imagine Palin in charge in a crisis, and maybe more so. But on the other hand, Palin is up for the number two spot, not for President, and the guy at the top of the ticket is John McCain, who people certainly have an easier time seeing as a foreign policy expert and decision-maker. A heartbeat away is a real issue, as Jonah says, but it's much less of a concern than choosing a president who isn't ready for the job.