As attractive as Ms. Palin may be as a political personality, she does not have any of these elements of a political resume. She may have done an extraordinary job as Alaskan Governor, but she did that for only two and one-half years. She may have electrified a portion of the electorate, but she has few political allegiances to call on if she becomes President. Most importantly, she has not spent the amount of time needed to work on the issues of the day. By her own admission, she has had to expand the scope of her political universe since resigning as Governor. She has started to receive daily updates on her Blackberry, but that is not the same as Reagan’s detailed policy statements in his own hand.

Americans like the idea of electing an outsider as President – one not beholden to the Washington scene. Yet the ones devoid of national allegiances gained through years of relationships have been failures – Carter and Obama so far. The outsiders who had long-term relationships, like Reagan and Clinton, were much more successful. They may have been outsiders, but they had plenty of friends in Washington.