Weigel argued last week, given the current dynamics in the media, Palin doesn't need to compete on a policy level. Andrew Sprung differs:
Weigel's post is titled, "But does she really need to learn anything?" The answer is yes. Palin faces the Herculean task of wiping out the impression of feckless ditziness that Tina Fey helped burn into tens of millions of American minds. Maybe she'll do it. It would not entirely surprise me if someone of her transcendent narcissism and ambition did achieve enough policy fluency to compete in 2012. She was effective in the Alaskan gubernatorial debates in 2006. But she cannot get away forever with clueless stares and helpless repetition of the question when interviewed even by friendly hosts on matters of national policy. Weigel underestimates the rigor remaining in the American Presidential selection process.
Bernstein goes in another direction.