The measure of Palin's inexperience: She's not ready for her close-up

Ten words keep ringing in my ears, long after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin supposedly redeemed herself and put to rest the nation's worst fears about the bottom of the Republican ticket.

"How long have I been at this?" she asked during last week's high-stakes vice presidential debate. "Like, five weeks?"

Say it ain't so, Joe, she's right.

No question, Palin killed. She's great on television when she's got rehearsed lines to deliver and no follow-up questions to answer. She's brash and disarming, and she makes you want to send her to Washington and give those boys a big whack on the patootie, you betcha.

But she's still not ready to be the nation's backup commander in chief in real life — or to compensate for Sen. John McCain's clear weaknesses on the economy. This isn't meant to be another case of Palin-bashing by the media elite. (Hello, I'm in Oregon.) This is the realization that, as the nation remains at war and in an economic crisis, we need a president with rock-steady judgment and a veep with at least, like, six weeks of national-level experience.

Congress passed a $700 billion bailout bill Friday. But the country is still a mess. Claims for unemployment benefits increased last week to the highest level since 2001. Factory orders are down, jobs are down, consumer confidence is down, home values are down.

How would a McCain-Palin administration pull the country out of this complex crisis? Hard to say.

McCain has long admitted that the economy is not his strong suit. Or rather, he did until the economy tanked enough for him to notice. His tax plan wouldn't help the middle class. He's for deregulation except when he's against it. He says he has taxpayers' best interest at heart, but he tarnished his reputation with unfortunate behavior during the savings-and-loan crisis of the 1980s.

These days, McCain remains all over the map. He flip-flops on bailouts, rails against Wall Street, praises the free market, calls for people's heads, calls for calm, suspends his campaign, keeps campaigning. He needs someone with a solid grasp of the economy to balance him out.

What he's got is an untested dynamo who didn't know her Fannie from her Freddie until two weeks ago.

(Granted, neither did we. But we're not running for vice president.)

I had to root for Palin during Thursday's debate. She didn't collapse into incoherence, as she has during her unscripted television appearances. She did so well, I almost felt bad for Tina Fey.

But the debate was pure political theater, not a demonstration of national leadership. It was a timed performance in which the candidates gave canned soliloquies about soccer moms and guys named Joey.

It was also an interview for a job that requires years of preparation, not weeks. When the show's over, voters worried sick about the future will favor the more-qualified candidate.

Not the one who aced her screen test.