In a sane world, we wouldn’t be discussing Palin as a potential candidate, for any sort of elected office – but we’re not living in a sane world – to quote George Carlin:
When you're born you get a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you get a front row seat.
The conservative Andrew Sullivan has done a fine job of cataloging the nearly endless reasons why she should never be allowed within spitting range of the White House.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/
Her appearance on the national stage was little more than a deeply cynical attempt to salvage what was left of John McCain’s campaign. It was not long before the McCain camp realized their mistake, which is why the media was allowed limited access, and her appearances were strictly managed. She continually claims that she was treated unfairly by the media, when, in fact, it was her very own statements that precipitated her downfall. By and large, the media treated her with more respect, and afforded her a much greater benefit of the doubt than she ever deserved.
In short, she’s absurd – and given that she is considered a strong candidate by a depressingly large portion of our fellow citizens, so, by extension, is our political process.