Will on Palin and Populism

Without insulting her, George Will explains why Sarah Palin will not (and should not) be the Republican nonimee for president in 2012.

The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll shows that 71 percent of Americans -- including 52 percent of Republicans -- think she is not qualified to be president.

This is not her fault. She is what she is, and what she is merits no disdain. She is feisty and public-spirited, and millions of people vibrate like tuning forks to her rhetoric. When she was suddenly forced to take a walk on the highest wire in America's political circus, she showed grit.

She also showed that grit is no substitute for seasoning. She has been subjected to such irrational vituperation -- loathing largely born of snobbery -- she can be forgiven for seeking the balm of adulation from friendly audiences.

Read it all. It's good.