ABC has backed off the scoop Karen flags below, or at least changed their headline, dropping the reference to 2012 in favor of simply, “Not Doing This For Naught,” which seems a far less, uhm, interpretive reading of her actual answer. ABC’s willingness to play up even the possibility that Palin is just maybe toying with a run in four years. Of all the things to criticize or to make a big deal of when it comes to the McCain-Palin campaign, this might be one of the most useless to actual voters. While being pushed very, very hard by the Obama campaign (hello, my lovely birdies!), Palin’s supposed ambitions don’t strike me as terribly relevant to the decisions people will make on Tuesday. Any VP candidate who isn’t thinking about running for president one day is probably less trustworthy than one who is — in part because they are probably thinking even darker thoughts. Two words, people: DICK CHENEY.
What’s more helpful, I think, is pointing out that in four years, Sarah Palin will be four more years more prepared for the presidency than she is now. Which is to say: not at all.
