Andrew Sullivan's Palin bias?

I tend to agree with Ross Douthat that Andrew Sullivan is being unfair to the Alaskan governor, but I don't think he's being inconsistent. Palin is clearly unqualified for office. It's not outrageous or sexist to suggest that she was selected for reasons other than her management experience. And if Palin was an "affirmative action" pick, as seems likely, her being on the ticket isn't the victory for feminism that Ross seems to think it is. Sullivan puts it best:

[H]ow many Republican vice-presidential picks have lauded Hillary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro in their acceptance speech? It wasn't even subtle. I find this kind of attitude to be about condescension, not feminism; about tokenism, not post-gender meritocracy.

Still, Sullivan definitely goes overboard. It's one thing to criticize McCain for such a blatant appeal to identity politics; it's quite another to imply that Palin is a vapid airhead. Whatever Palin's shortcomings, stupidity is certainly not among them. She wouldn't have been chosen if McCain didn't believe she could stand up against Joe Biden in a debate.

I have a good feeling she'll surprise everyone . . .