Sarah Palin is indeed an impressive person, but former New York mayor Ed Koch hit the nail on the head today on CNN: She’s “plucky, perky, and scares the hell out of me.”

As I said in the previous post:

I realize that most of her support comes from people who care nothing about policy or competence or credentials. They like her. They like her a lot. She’s a fresh face, she’s a strong speaker, she’s a working mom, she’s a hunter, she’s pro-life. For a lot of people in America, these are all that matters. These are the issues.

But as American voters, owners of the most powerful government in history, it is absolutely imperative that we take our presidential politics more seriously.  How can any of us watch Palin answer questions about basic foreign policy with such nervousness and uncertainty and not be scared?

Imagine this scenario. You are having heart surgery.  You meet with the surgeon the day before the procedure to ask questions and put your mind at ease– this will be the first major operation she’s ever performed. But as you begin asking questions, questions you’ve compiled from several hours of Internet research, you get the feeling that your surgeon is nervous. She’s hunched forward in her chair, her breathing is shallow, her answers are evasive. She seems to be trying to just get through this. You ask her a basic question about your procedure, and she seems stumped. “In what respect?” she asks. By the end of the session, you have the sense that she hasn’t really thought much about the procedure she is scheduled to perform the next day.  In fact, you realize you have completely lost confidence in the ability of this woman to save your life.

Would you allow her to operate on you anyway?

What if you found out that, despite her lack of knowledge on heart surgery, she agrees with you on many controversial health-related issues?  Would that be enough for you?  What if you found out that she is a wonderful mother, that she has a child with Down syndrome, that she enjoys hunting just like you, that she goes to church every Sunday, that she’s from a small town?  Would any of these facts sway you to go ahead with the surgery?

Would the fact that she attended five different colleges in six years to earn one degree bother you?  Would the fact that she is under investigation for malpractice bother you?  Would the fact that she repeatedly claims experience performing surgeries that she never performed bother you?

Again, would you allow this woman to operate on you?  How about on everyone you love?

I have to believe that the vast majority of Americans would not want this person as their surgeon.  Yet, we are ready to make her the most powerful human being in the world.  We are ready to put our military, our economy, our security, our children directly in her control.

A few weeks ago, Nate Silver over at 538 made the essential point that when vice presidents become president, it means a national tragedy has occured– a president has died in office, has been killed by an assassin, or has resigned in the face of overwhelming scandal (and in our post-9/11 future, the scenarios could be even more dire than these).  The nation is in crisis.  The vice president must step in immediately, run the government and the military, make split-second launch-or-abort decisions, face down world leaders and tyrants.  230 years of democracy is in their hands.

Does Sarah Palin inspire this level of confidence in you?  Would you even let someone with her level of knowledge and qualifications perform surgery on you, let alone determine your tax rate, your mortgage, your children’s education, your retirement security, your health care options, the quality of the air you breathe?

Does Sarah Palin pass the heart surgeon test?