She’s Not Ready—but neither is any other hockey mom. Let's have a lottery for VP.

From Bob Herbert 9/12 column.

In the spin zones of cable TV, commentators repeatedly made the point that there are probably very few voters — some specifically mentioned “hockey moms” — who could explain the Bush doctrine. But that’s exactly the reason we have such long and intense campaigns. You want to find the individuals who best understand these issues, who will address them in sophisticated and creative ways that enhance the well-being of the nation.

The Bush doctrine, which flung open the doors to the catastrophe in Iraq, was such a fundamental aspect of the administration’s foreign policy that it staggers the imagination that we could have someone no further than a whisper away from the White House who doesn’t even know what it is.

You can’t imagine that John McCain or Barack Obama or Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton or Joe Lieberman would not know what the Bush doctrine is. But Sarah Palin? Absolutely clueless. …

John McCain, who is shameless about promoting himself as America’s ultimate patriot, put the best interests of the nation aside in making his incredibly reckless choice of a running mate. But there is a profound double standard in this country. The likes of John McCain and George W. Bush can do the craziest, most irresponsible things imaginable, and it only seems to help them politically.

The question this election is going to answer is whether the citizens of this country have enough sense left to understand what they are voting for. Or have we been so hypnotized by Republican anti-intellectual propaganda that we are ready to vote for people on the grounds that they can't think—"just like you and me"—and therefore are "one of us," and on those grounds are qualified to be President.

Here's where Paul Krugman made a similar comment.