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That middle America might like Sarah Palin is a worry. That the woman is bog-ignorant is of even greater concern especially having regard to the position she could quite conceivably occupy if the McCain-Palin ticket wins the upcoming US presidential election.

Whilst there is said to be talk among some Republicans to still drop Palin as VP candidate even at this late stage, Palin's grasp [?] of the world is captured by this report in the Washington Post:

"Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, describing the need for more troops in Afghanistan, said the United States has achieved "victory" in Iraq.

It was an apparent misstep in Palin's third interview since agreeing to become Republican Sen. John McCain's running mate nearly one month ago. These encounters have garnered enormous interest because Palin has largely walled herself off from journalists amid growing criticism that a vice presidential nominee should be more accessible. In an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll this week, 57 percent of those surveyed agreed that "Sarah Palin does not have enough experience and understanding of foreign and military issues to be president."

Palin told CBS's Katie Couric that "a surge in Afghanistan also will lead us to victory there as it has proven to have done in Iraq," adding that "we cannot afford to retreat, to withdraw in Iraq."

Update: The Miami Herald reports:

"Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker wrote, "No one hates saying this more than I do," but Palin's "clearly out of her league" and should "bow out."

Broadway shows close after friendlier reviews.

The McCain campaign's kept Palin in a bubble and has been slamming the news media. It claims coverage has been unfair. The strategy plays well with the Republican base.

But with Election Day little more than a month away, a cultural war might not be the best political strategy when the economy is in meltdown and voters believe Democrat Barack Obama would handle it better.

The cocoon around the Alaska governor had become so tight that some reporters, unable to get answers to the questions they lobbed at her, would chronicle the questions anyway."

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