A reader writes:
You asked, "[W]hy did Charles Krauthammer and George Will endorse her in 2008 if she is still so patently unqualified now?" George Will endorsed Palin in 2008? Really? I don't remember that. Can you provide a link?
In fact, at the time Will seemed to say that McCain's choice of Palin was baffling, and reflected McCain's own unquestioning self righteousness. From his column shortly after her attachment to the ticket:
But is there any evidence that she has thought about such matters? [limits of federal govermment's powers.] McCain's selection of her is applied McCainism -- a visceral judgment by one who is confidently righteous. But the viscera are not the seat of wisdom.
I think you are making a lazy, breezy statement saying that Will endorsed Palin in 2008.
Indeed, Will also said a month before Election Day that she was "obviously not qualified to be president." But my criterion for endorsement is a simple one: did he back the GOP ticket? Yes, he did. When that definitionally means a chance of a Palin presidency, I don't think his positioning then or now gets him in the clear. To my mind, anyone who endorsed a national ticket with Palin on it endorsed Palin.