Five for Six

Five for Six:

Mrs. Palin's effort to swing the race for governor in Georgia appears to have failed. With 86% reporting, there is a very narrow 50.4% margin for Nathan Deal. It is mostly absentee and "early" ballots that remain to be counted.

I have nothing against Mrs. Palin, as will be clear to those who have read these pages for a long while. I want to support her, and indeed I do believe that she is well positioned to be a positive force in American politics.

Nevertheless, this time she was wrong. She entered this race without taking due care to understand it. She supported a woman who had no obvious qualifications, and while it is easy to understand how she might have felt some sympathy -- how many said just that about her? -- the fact is that she was vastly more qualified for the Vice Presidency than Mrs. Handel was to be governor. It is unwise to internalize your enemy's critique of you: there was nothing wrong with Sarah Palin of 2008, and nothing right with Barack Obama of 2008. It just wasn't the year, all things considered.

Assuming the result holds, Nathan Deal should be a fine governor. He was one of the few who managed to be a good congressman; and the pressures at the state house are much less.

Congratulations to the victor.

UPDATE: With 99% reporting, the margin has narrowed to 50.2%. No final winner will be called until military votes are counted. In Georgia, we still do count them.