As I pointed out here just after the nomination, I quite like Sarah Palin. Patrick Stephens does a good job of explaining why:

It’s more important that an ignorant executive be cautious than decisive. On that score, Palin is the only candidate in either ticket that seems even mildly conscious of her own ignorance. When foundering in ignorance, Obama reverts to platitudes, Biden makes stuff up, McCain suspends his campaign, and Palin asks for clarification.

…

No matter how intelligent a person is, it would be impossible to master every subject and every issue that a President would face in his term of office. The range of knoweldge is simply too diverse. That’s why a President has advisors, experts in specific fields who offer advice and counsel.

Sarah Palin doesn’t seem to pretend to be an expert on topic she doesn’t know. Admitting when I’m over my head in a conversation and that I need someone to step back and either give me additional context or educate me on the topic at hand is something that I personally struggle with, and I have a great deal of respect for anyone, especially a public figure who (as we’ve seen) is likely to take a great deal of heat for any sign of ignorance, who can admit when they simply don’t know enough to talk about a topic at the moment.

While I think Palin is being held back by her running mate (which is an odd thing to say about a Vice Presidential candidate, I know), I hope that this exposure to the national political scene is just the beginning of a new phase of her political career.