Yes, let's examine the competence of vice-presidential candidates

The NY Times today weighs in with a solemn, worried article about the problems with Sarah Palin's candidacy:

"A month after Gov. Sarah Palin joined Senator John McCain’s ticket to a burst of excitement and anticipation among Republicans, she heads into a critical debate facing challenges from conservatives about her credentials, signs that her popularity is slipping and evidence that Republicans are worried about how much help she will be for Mr. McCain in November."

Read the whole thing--there are some conservatives, such as David Frum and Kathleen Parker, joining in the bashing, too. And for doing so, I'm disappointed in conservatives such as Parker and Frum. Sarah Palin is a woman with a track record--of popularity, and of success across a whole range of issues, in Alaska. She has a track record of being a good debater there, and of defeating better known, establishment candidates both in debates and in elections (and the men she beat remind me a lot of Joe Biden). She ought to at least have been given the chance to compete in this vice-presidential debate before people began talking about throwing her under the bus, you'd think...

And when it comes to judgment, in any case, the one with the problem ought to be Joe Biden. Go here and read this article. It shows that not once, but twice (!), Biden has fibbed about coming under hostile fire--once near the Green Zone in Baghdad, and another time near Afghanistan. In neither case was he truthful--in Baghdad, there's no evidence there were shots fired, and in Afghanistan, his helicopter was forced down by bad weather, not terrorists.
How can someone be a responsible politician and tell lies like this???
Answer: you can't. You've got to know that to be dishonest like this about shots fired at politicians in a war zone is going to get found out. It's going to get you in trouble.
Thus, to make up stories like this, as Biden does, show incredibly poor judgment.
It shows incredibly poor character. Has Sarah Palin done anything like Biden?
No. Let's keep that in mind.

The Democrats' Joe Biden problem

And this is the issue I figured they'd have with him when they nominated him for vice president: he goes off the reservation and says things the campaign doesn't want him to say:

"Another case of Joe being Joe. The Delaware Senator took issue with an attack ad from his own side in an interview with CBS, telling Katie Couric that the Obama hit on McCain’s ignorance of computers and technology was “terrible.” The ad paints McCain as out of touch — and all but calls him ancient — but doesn’t mention that the Arizona Senator’s war injuries actually prevent him from using computers for an extended period. Asked whether he’s disappointed with the tone of the campaign, including the ad that Couric characterized as “making fun of John mcCain’s inability to use a computer,” Biden said “I thought that was terrible by the way. “I didn’t know we did it and if I had anything to do with it, we would have never done it.”

He tried to go back and spin the whole thing in a way to benefit Obama, but I don't think it will work. Naturally the McCain camp has jumped on these comments. It's a gift for any campaign--the Democrats' vice-presidential nominee criticizes his own running mate's ads! What a break for McCain.

And think of this, too: this is a mistake that Sarah Palin has not made, and would not make.
Discipline and focus are two important traits for any candidate for national office. Sarah Palin has them. Joe Biden doesn't.

UPDATE: Biden today is trying to backtrack from his comments.
I doubt it will help him much. Note that his defense is that he was "asked about an ad I'd never seen." Ah--so you'd never seen it. But you chose to shoot your mouth off about it anyway. Real good judgment there, Joe.