David Brooks on Palin's Experience

The ever-so-reasonable New York Times columnist David Brooks cements his reputation as a liberal's favorite conservative with an indictment of Governor Palin's experience:

Sarah Palin has many virtues. If you wanted someone to destroy a corrupt establishment, she’d be your woman. But the constructive act of governance is another matter. She has not been engaged in national issues, does not have a repertoire of historic patterns and, like President Bush, she seems to compensate for her lack of experience with brashness and excessive decisiveness.

He echoes other conservatives, like George Will, Charles Krauthammer, David Frum, and Ross Douthat in his nervousness about Palin's readiness to be second in command.

Here's some of what George F. Will wrote in the Washington Post during the RNC:

So, Sarah Palin. The man who would be the oldest to embark on a first presidential term has chosen as his possible successor a person of negligible experience.

Will goes on to make a nuanced argument, which is why he, like Brooks, is a joy for liberals to read (even when we disagree with them). "Clearly," Will writes, "experience is not sufficient to prove a person 'qualified' for the presidency. But it is a necessary component of qualification."

The National Review's Greg Pollowitz makes a half-assed counter to Brooks' column with a link to a Weekly Standard piece by Dave Juday that says "When it comes to energy policy, the Alaska governor is the most experienced politician on either ticket." The evidence being her serving on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

"I guess serving on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is a lot like being a board member with Bill Ayers and the Chicago Anneberg Challenge, only with responsibilities," writes a smug Pollowitz. Come on. Is that all you got?

This hollow defense may be one of a number of signs that the tide is turning, once again, to Obama. The New Republic pointed out yesterday that the McCain campaign is on the defensive again.