This is an interesting piece, because Frum, a Republican speechwriter, asks his fellow party members and conservatives to seek information on Palin, rather than to accept her nomination blindly. Frum is a writer on the right I admire. Whether you agree with him or not, he provides insight and writes clearly. This piece is especially balanced because it is a dialog consisting of his response, interspersed w. a letter from his reader Eric Hosemann, who supports Palin. And because, while he now suports Bush, he raises questions about what his relative lack of experience meant to the country: "George W. Bush had very slight executive experience before becoming president. His views were not well known. He won the nomination exactly ... More »

It's great to hear a conservative calling for more information about Palin. I also like the back an forth between intelligent conservatives. Sometimes I tend to forget that this is not an oxymoron, perhaps because they are so out numbered by those who appear on Faux News.

This exchange speaks about executive experience, which almost all successful candidates for president possess, with the notable exceptions of James Madison, John Quincy Adams, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, and John F. Kennedy. As you can see, three of our most successful presidents lacked this attribute, as does the current Democratic ticket of Obama/Biden. However, of those, the only president/VP ticket with both candidates lacking executive experience was Buchanan/Breckinridge. (Even Lyndon Johnson was head for a time of a large agency, the National Youth Administration.) But all this is meaningless in this exchange between David Frum and Eric Hosemann. Neither seems to know the definition of executive experience, and ... More »

This reminds me of an old TV segment called Point-Counterpoint where one commentator debated an issue with another. I found it interesting because it contrasted a man-on-the-street viewpoint with one from a Washington insider. Frum's responses kept reminding me of a quote I keep thinking Jim Hightower said (but can't swear to that attribution). It goes something like this, "Never entrust the management of your government to people who don't think it should exist." After that, I have to agree with Frum, some level of competence is something we sorely need after 8 years of possibly the most inept administration ever.