I thought we hated Fred Barnes. I am confused.
lol. Way to point out the hypocrisy and idiocy of clan mentality. ;-).
I'm not, unfortunately.
Your confusion is understandable. What the coterie of Barnes-bashers here on FR fail to recognize is that Barnes and Bill Kristol virtually "discovered" Gov. Palin during a Weekly Standard Alaska cruise in 2007.
When Barnes and Kristol got back to DC, the Standard began running article after article that gave Palin favorable mention and effectively introduced her to the inside-the-Beltway conservative power structure.
Barnes himself wrote what was probably the key article, called "America's Most Popular Governor," while Kristol is reputed to have been boosting Sarah tirelessly during his insider tête-à-têtes with Republican elites.
In other words, one can make a plausible argument that without her having had Barnes and Kristol working for free as big-time Washington PR agents during late 2007 and early 2008, Gov. Palin never would have been seriously considered by McCain and his team for the VP slot.