Call Kathleen Parker my new sister-in-arms: When Sarah Palin went to the U.N. this week to meet her first world leaders (sorry, I’m already cringing), the no-reporters-allowed controversy was clearly intended to shield the VP nominee from likely gaffes. Kathleen Parker writes on JWR today that it was fun while it lasted, but Palin has shown that she’s clearly out of her league. Now, in the eyes of Freepers and other conservative faithful, she’s suddenly a plant for the left hellbent on sabotage. Never mind where she’s really coming from: She wants McCain to win and doesn’t think this is the ticket.

And my column on Pajamas Media today, in which I suggested that Bobby Jindal would have been the wiser pick, is drawing similar vitriol. Funny thing is, it wasn’t a negative column about Palin, as it’s being branded a trash piece, etc., on that site’s comments section, but a focus on the positives of Jindal, even though he likely would not have (or did not) accepted the job. Sorry, but I don’t look at the emotional frenzy of the base, I just look at the hard qualifications of the candidate. And the comment left there that I should have just “gone shopping” instead of musing upon the wisdom of McCain’s pick shows that just because a woman candidate has excited the conservative base doesn’t mean that sexism has vanished from the GOP electorate.

Maybe we should all just take a breath. If Dems are accused of voting for Obama simply based on the wave of euphoria without properly vetting his qualifications — no dissent tolerated — what does it say when GOP faithful act the same way about the VP pick?

Have PoliticalMavens.com delivered to your inbox in a daily digest by clicking here