the reviews are in

the first part of the charlie gibson / sarah palin interview aired tonight on abc news nightline. afterwords, the round table at fox news was at least supportive, if not glowing.  elsewhere, reactions were pretty dark.  an example from the associated press:

John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin sought Thursday to defend her qualifications but struggled with foreign policy, unable to describe President Bush's doctrine of pre-emptive strikes against threatening nations and acknowledging she's never met a foreign head of state.

i actually felt badly for ms. palin during this interview.  clearly she is in over her head. again i was thinking, it really is a saturday night live sketch.  there is no way this person is ready to be a heartbeat away from the presidency of the united states.

however, the first part of the interview (parts two and three air tomorrow) contained my favorite line from the entire campaign so far. when gibson asked what insight into russian actions the proximity of alaska gives her, ms. palin answered:

"They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska."

you can't make this stuff up.

one has to assume that she will do better in parts two and three of the interview, when the focus will likely shift to issues she is more comfortable with and has more experience discussing.

here, though, is a brief clip where palin struggles with that question about the bush doctrine.  this is painful.  even worse for me is the hokey attitude, the wink about new leadership, while discussing war: