Sarah is "on"

The McCain campaign waited too long to unleash her, but as Jennifer Rubin notes, thank goodness they did:

She is turning out to be a rather effective advocate — both on the stump and in increasingly frequent interviews. In part this is because she gets good, punchy material, isn’t afraid to attack her opponent and speaks in down-to-earth language. In other words, she is a very good politician. Anyone who runs for office and gets elected multiple times has to have some basic political skills. She has more than her share.

So why did they stow her away for so long? One of the many mysteries of the campaign. But it goes to show that the things pundits ooh and ahh over — debate performance, verbal acuity and TV finesse — are both talents and acquired skills that have little, if anything, to do with being a “serious” candidate or being qualified. Since she was villified before for a rocky performances, has she suddenly become an acceptable candidate in the eyes of political insiders? No. They don’t credit her adeptness now – any more than they recognized her record of reform and energy expertise then. She is and remains simply not one of “them” – one of the media vetted, Washington manicured set of politicians who sound and look a certain way and have a certain type of experience –in the right states of course.

There simply is no pleasing some.