She's a popular figure in the opposition party, so obviously most Salon readers are going to be happy that she shot herself in the foot.

After 600+ posts, you have finally elucidated two positive reasons why you would vote for Palin. Does it bother you that absolutely no-one else has done so before you, on this or any of the other Palin threads? I've asked, repeatedly, for people to offer some evidence, any at all, that Palin is "intelligent." People have parroted the word, dozens of times, without having offered one policy decision or utterance from Palin to support it. (If I'm wrong, please quote someone.) Doesn't that bother you?

It bothers me that so many people would vote, that except for one single person, there is complete unanimity in declaring that someone is "intelligent," in spite of evidence offered, and without anyone even bothering to offer any evidence in favor of this supposed "intelligence." Does it not bother you that almost every Palin supporter here has made such a baseless claim, without having any evidence to offer to support it?

It bothers me when I meet leftists who yell in favor of a cause, without being able to articulate a single reason why.

Please offer more positive reasons to support Palin. You have offered two: oil independence, and cost-cutting. If there are more, I would like to hear all of them. That will be far more substantial a contribution than all of the posts insisting "yep, she's intelligent! and you're haters!", without any evidence.

Oh, they know perfectly well that our criticism of Palin is not "hatred." They're stretching for a smear word, to avoid engaging the points that we've made.

Only one Palin supporter here was honest enough to mention that they liked Palin because she's a foil to "smarter-than-thou" liberals; everyone else has pretended that she's "intelligent!", simply because we mentioned that she was "unintelligent." It's the knee-jerk contradiction of an 8-year-old. Many Palin supporters have gloated--gloated!--at the liberals here, for some unfathomable reason, as if Palin has effected some sort of triumph, as if the Republicans swept the election last year. Only one admitted that yes, the GOP has completely fallen from political power.

Palin's supporters have argued with exactly as little logic as Palin herself. She quits? That means she won! She's unintelligent, based on all these many statements she's made? No, we'll just say she's intelligent!, for no reason! We lose all power in the House, the Senate, and the White House? That means Palin's a winner, and you can't stand it!

You apply critical thinking to analyze a potential Presidential candidate? You say you're doing it because it is--

OUR DUTY AS VOTERS,

critically to examine a potential leader for whom we are being asked to vote. We call that "Democracy." Republicans call it "hatred," and wish we wouldn't look at Palin's competence as closely. No problem--if she's applying for a different job, she can be as unqualified as she likes, I won't care or analyze her critically. Be a talk-show host. If I don't like it, I won't watch (like with Fox). If she's asking for my vote, though, then yes I will ask you questions. It's what each of us are supposed to do. We have listed many reasons to doubt Sarah Palin's competence to hold office. Her supporters here have listed none. It's as simple as that. Calling it "hatred" is a cheap way to duck these facts.

We ignore the above points? We win!

Thank you for your question.

I am happy to answer it, and wish to do so in two segments: (1) a brief retort to some misunderstandings; and (2) the pro-Sarah perspective. I'll try not to repeat things I've noted in other posts.

First, there are two brands of misunderstandings. (A) That she is a religious far right wacko. (B) That she incited hatred against Obama. I want to be very specific here on both, especially Point (B).

On the religious front, she did not have an exorcism performed by a witch doctor. She had a blessing said by a visiting Kenyan evangelical, and only some opposition research turned up the fact that he was once involved in some anti-witchcraft type stuff in Kenya. It had nothing to do with Palin.

She also did not say anything about End Times. Again, opposition research turned up that she attended one or more sermons by a pastor who had said or written things on other occasions about Alaska being an End Times refuge.

I'm not saying she isn't a devout evangelical Christian, and might well have intense beliefs. But fair is fair. Furthermore, it is a liberal canard to say evangelicals wish to stir up a nuclear holocaust to satisfy end times beliefs. If Sarah Palin believes that, you need some proof. To my knowledge, there isn't any.

A better reflection of her beliefs can be found in her recent Runners World interview. There, she notes that when running near Alaska's mountains, she stands in awe of God's creation, as well as the evolutionary process of glaciers and such. Actually mentions evolution. Did the same thing as a gubanatorial candidate, saying that her mother taught her faith and her father taught her science, including evolution. She's a fairly modern evangelical, in that regard.

On Point B, Obama, remember that the Vanity Fair article says she bristled at becoming McCain's "bad cop," even to the point of requesting a poll on what it would do to her image. Furthermore, the Secret Service expressly refuted the charge that anyone ever shouted "kill him" at a Palin rally. There was one "kill him" outburst at a McCain rally, which was reportedly directed at William Ayres as a kind of call and response, and after that week, neither McCain or Palin ever mentioned Ayres in a speech again. The "real America" line almost certainly originated with McCain's people, who wrote her speeches. Besides, I would guess that Sarah would gladly take that one back -- e.g., Colin Powell took offense on behalf of the Bronx -- if those who took offense would meet her half way, in a spirit of reconciliation and friendship. (Incidentally, I think small town fairs and such represent a kind of Americana, or real America if you will, which is not meant to degrade anyone else).

On the 'why do I like her front,' let's just focus for a minute on politics. I think the government should spend less money -- she cut spending while serving as governor. Despite all the hysteria and ethics charges over per diem expenses, she cut gross per diems from $450,000 per year under her predecessor to $150,000 per year.

I have reservations about ANWR drilling, but the argument for environmentally sensitive domestic drilling wins in a close call over foreign dependence, given that much of that dependence (e.g., Nigeria) is itself more sensitive than ANWR. More generally, I don't think politics is rocket science. And, honestly, I don't think Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee are any more "serious" as people or politicians than Sarah Palin.

On the personal front, I guess you could say I was really thrown back when I first read that her 18 year old son volunteered for the infantry (the front line, as it were), and she had a special needs child as well. I also had to laugh when I read critics saying Track probably went to the army to get out of trouble. Funny, because a member of my family did that in Vietnam (a troubled kid who volunteered), and died for his country at age 18 shortly after his arrival. The reasons for going don't make the sacrifice any less heroic. I know Sarah Palin goes to bed every night not knowing what tomorrow will hold in terms of her son's safety. I also know there is a little child in her home who is very fortunate to have someone like Sarah as his mother.

In closing, I understand completely the argument that Palin is a small town girl who can be well liked, but should not be president. I disagree; I think she would be a fine president. But the part I don't understand is not liking her in the first place. Or just respecting her, in a validation sense.

At this point, though, I no longer care, with respect to her critics. As I said in another post, she's landed in the briar patch in terms of earning power, adoration, and future potential. She can do whatever she likes. I hope she's found her laughing place.