Jed,

Sarah Palin as a candidate was, I believe, an attempt to sway as many Hillary Clinton voters as possible to the Republican ticket. McCain has simply too many strikes against him for voters to assume that Palin would have always stayed in the background. His age and bouts of skin cancer told a different story. After the hard knocks that Hillary has taken, the hard work that she has done, the nonsense she has put up with, the law degree that she earned, to suggest that a journalism B.A. lightweight like Palin could lure voters who crave a highly qualified woman candidate for the race, and to fill the office, she was an insult.

No more, no less. Until the Republicans get over courting one particularly conservative part of their party that feels the need to dictate everyone else's religion and how they conduct their personal lives, candidates like her not going to make the majority of the party happy. I met a lot of Republicans this year who were so turned off by her that they did vote for Obama. So it wasn't just the Hillary voters who were insulted.

Sarah Palin is fine as a big fish in her politically small pond of Alaska. She can be funny and charismatic and a good sport. But despite all of the coverage on Saturday Night Live, she is in no way, shape, or form ready for prime time.

I hope you're well and had a good Thanksgiving. And keep posting your concert dates.

SRS