How many people actually knew what the Bush Doctrine was before tonight?
I didn't. Charlie Gibson asks me that question, under those circumstances, and I probably bob and weave the way Palin did too.
I'm not going to argue that the Vice President probably should know the jargon, or at the very least should be able to speak with any degree of authority about the idea of us having a right to pre-emptive action. Palin certainly did neither.
But as an argument against her fitness to be VP, it's a loser. Too wonkish, too inside. Her answer about Georgia and NATO, in which she displayed a disturbing willingness to play chicken with Russia (a game, I might add, we already lost to them not so long ago), was in my opinion far worse, but it's not something I'd bring up with an undecided voter. It's just not something that will resonate.
I think, truth be told, we've put the cart before the horse a little with Palin. If and when the corporate media decides that she's a scandal-ridden rookie, then it makes sense to question McCain's judgment in picking her. Until then, arguments like "She didn't even know what the Bush Doctrine was!" just look like partisan noise to anyone in the middle.
