I imagine both have above-average intelligence. OTOH, it’s impossible to tell what brain power Slow Joe Biden has behind those constant effusions of verbiage.

Governor Palin is an intelligent woman for whom the appellation overachiever should be added to that of hockey mom. Her accomplishments are laudable. However, Alaska is so far removed culturally, as well as geographically, from the rest of the United States and so unlike any of the other states that the moxie shown in her national speaking debut in front of a controlled and fawning audience is little guide to how she will do in less-controlled situations with relentless, recurring questions buffeting her from all quarters of the media — local, national and global. This is a serious handicap because one really only learns to handle this by doing it. Not only has her exposure to this been exceedingly thin, but having taken place in Alaska, the exposure she has had affords little preparation. Had she cut her political teeth even in Ontario, she would be better prepared, in many respects, for the scrutiny she now will encounter, although presumably excluded from running for legal reasons. Anyway, here she is, all of a sudden, playing for the proverbial Stanley Cup.

Class baiting, referred to in one of the blogs above, is about all the GOP has left, in its desperation; and no doubt, Governor Palin will be called on to take the lead in this exercise. The media, performing its role unexceptionably, will do all it can to smoke out anything in her background that seems unusual or extreme. There is a strong likelihood that they will find a number of examples, and Sarah Palin on the defensive may look considerably different than the toast of the Xcel Center did last night. Even then, she showed a taste for sarcasm and some relish for cheap shots that verged, at least, on cockiness. As she responds to questions that imply that she is out of the mainstream, it is almost inconceivable that she will have the reservoir of charm that Ronald Reagan had in such situations, and she certainly doesn’t have his seasoning. Class baiting depends on the audience’s ability to merge themselves with the speaker and see the speaker’s prejudices — so often called values — as their own. I truly wonder whether independent women and Hillary Democrats will be tracking with Governor Palin a month from now. They easily could be sending her to the penalty box.

She finds the pick insulting for several reasons.

First, she pointed out that the traditional position of the Republican party is that individuals should be selected for jobs and promotions based on ability, and not arbitrary personal characteristics. She thinks it is pretty difficult to argue that govenenor Palin was selected for any reason other than the fact that she is a woman.

Second, because govenenor Palin seems to have been selected for what she represents rather than any talents she might bring to the ticket. My wife seems to think the pick will ultimately make it harder for women to argue that they only want equal access, and not special treatment.

Finally, she said she had discussed the pick with the CFO of her company, and he said he thought the pick was, “a joke.” He pointed out that the board of directors at most corporations would be calling for the CEOs head had he or she made such a reckless selection.

If she’s an intellectual, she’s hiding it well. No references to Kierkegaard, Derrida, or St. Thomas Aquinas. But then the last intellectual in Presidential politics was Gene McCarthy, and look how far he got. A lack of intellecuality often doesn’t connote a lack of intelligence.

Obama’s “articulate,” as Joe Biden says; a “doubleplusgood ducktalker.” In spite of his precocious memoirs, it’s hard to evaluate his native intelligence, either, and he’s been in the public eye longer. As for Biden, well . . . . ’nuff said.

The woman’s only had five of her fifteen minutes. At least let’s wait until ten have passed before we jump to too many conclusions.