A few days later on Fox, Palin rattled off a number of decisions she supposedly opposed. One of the rulings that Palin named is an eminent domain case, Kelo v. City of New London. In Kelo, the court ruled that local governments have the right to seize private property for the sake of economic development.

At first blush, it seems like a good pick for an Alaskan with a libertarian streak.

The only problem is that in 2002, Palin sued a local landowner in Wasilla to seize his property, the proposed site of a new sports complex that included an indoor ice hockey rink.

That eminent domain case has wound through the courts for six years, at a cost of about $1.75 million. As of this July, the matter was still being worked out.

The case didn’t come up in the Fox interview, when Palin said: “The Kelo case dealt with eminent domain. That affects me as a governor and it affected me as a mayor also. Private property rights are so precious in this nation, and for the Supreme Court to have sided with government instead of the people, the property owners on that–that was frustrating.”

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It would be very easy to rip on Palin for twice explaining to Couric that Alaska is literally near Russia and Canada, and generally not being very coherent — but I’m really starting to feel bad for her. I remember being on the McCain campaign press bus, leaving the rally in Dayton where McCain announced she would be his running mate. There was a spirited discussion among reporters about how this obvious crapshoot would turn out for the campaign. I shared the consensus view that it would probably be a train wreck.

“I mean, he just plucked this woman out of Alaska,” I recall one reporter saying.

After several more rallies leading up to the Republican National Convention, in which I saw enormous crowds chanting Palin’s name — and then after seeing the media reaction to her RNC speech — I admit, I started to doubt my own judgment. Maybe the public was seeing something I missed.

However, it’s comforting to realize now that my instincts are sound. Clearly, many conservative Republican true-believers were looking for a reason to justify voting for McCain, whom they distrust — and Palin gives them that. But after watching her performances in one-on-one interviews, it’s hard to imagine Palin will be tipping the scales for many undecided moderates in McCain’s favor.