Wild

I've been thinking about Sarah Palin a lot (mainly because she's everywhere and it's difficult to avoid) and I've come to the following conclusion.

She is clearly a smart, smart woman. So far I don't think I agree with a single one of her political beliefs, but that doesn't mean I can't recognize her intelligence. So as much as I'd like to think the fact that so many of her answers to Charlie Gibson's questions last week sounded like regurgitation of ideas she'd been spoon fed was a reflection of her intellectual capacity, I know better. It was because she is inexperienced and needed to be brought up to speed. Quickly. She crammed for a test, and because she's smart, she aced it.

But here's the problem: She didn't have ownership of those ideas. If she and McCain are elected, she'll have the chance to (no, wait, the need to) reflect on every single one of those issues and, because she's a smart woman, she'll come to her own conclusions -- some that align with what we heard from her and, most likely, some that don't. So basically, my opinion is that we still don't know a thing about what this woman believes because on many of these issues, she herself probably doesn't yet fully know what she believes.

She's a wild card. And for someone who is one heartbeat away from the presidency, I'd like more than that.