Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol's little crush on Sarah Palin is widely credited for getting the Alaskan on the Republican presidential ticket in 2008. Palin was "fantastic" and "energetic" and "a genuine reformer," and John McCain simply had to "go for the gold" by picking her, Kristol said that June. But now, the bloom is off the rose: Kristol told a Vanderbilt audience that Palin shouldn't be the GOP's nominee in 2012.
Politico's Ben Smith reports that someone from the Nashville audience asked Kristol if he could "tell this audience with a straight face if you still think [Palin's vice presidential nomination] was a good idea." Kristol could. Palin was "a reasonable gamble to take" and handled herself well in her debate with Joe Biden, a 30-year veteran of the Senate.
But a lot has changed since Kristol met Palin on a Weekly Standard cruise to Alaska in 2007. "When she quit as governor of Alaska, that was a questionable move from her point of view, but I thought at least then that she would come to the mainland and really participate in the national debate," Kristol said. "Instead, [it] turns out that she loves Alaska, which is to her credit--but then I don't know why she quit as governor."
His bottom line at Vanderbilt: "I think she's unlikely to be the Republican nominee, and to be honest I think she probably shouldn't be the Republican nominee for president."
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