Brutal honesty from a Palin supporter

Ross Douthat of The Atlantic is a young, influential voice in the conservative blogosphere. He’s been an optimistic proponent of Sarah Palin. But on Saturday, after the last segment of Palin’s interview with ABC News’ Charles Gibson aired, he wrote this blog post, titled, “Sarah The Unready”:

The most that can be said in her defense is that she kept her cool and avoided any brutal gaffes; other than that, she seemed about an inch deep on every issue outside her comfort zone. Yes, the questions were tougher than the ones that a Tim Kaine or Tim Pawlenty probably would have been handed, but they were all questions that a vice-presidential nominee needs to be able to answer. And there’s no way to look at her performance as anything save supporting evidence for the non-hysterical critique of her candidacy – that it’s just too much, too soon – and a splash of cold water for those of us with high hopes for her future on the national stage.

Douthat wouldn’t agree with Matt Damon’s “bad Disney movie” assessment, but at least he’s being honest with how unprepared Palin is for the national stage.