Via the Moderate Voice, 25 minutes with a politician no one had ever heard of until two weeks ago, except of course for the entire right-wing punditsphere. It’s a sign of how stupidly the left has lowered expectations for her that even I found myself thinking as I watched this, “Why, she’s not like Cletus the slackjawed yokel at all.” Well played, media.

Most of it has to do with ethics and energy policy, so if you’re not in the mood for that, skip ahead to 6:25 of the second clip for a prescient McCain-related hypothetical. She’s appropriately modest, but note this bit from the NYT’s Trig puff piece this morning:

In mid-April, Ms. Palin and her husband flew to Texas for an energy conference with fellow Republican governors. Days before, Ms. Palin, a little-known governor from a faraway state, was asked to speak to her peers…

Ms. Palin marched through the day. At a news conference, a reporter asked the six Republican governors present to raise their hands if they would refuse to serve as Mr. McCain’s vice-presidential nominee. Ms. Palin was one of two who kept their hands down.

Patronize her at your peril, warns a guy not normally known for worrying about that sort of thing.