One of the best things about writing a blog is that like an exotic plant it somehow grows in strange directions and shapes and thereby introduces you to all sorts of new people round the planet.

Such as someone who saw my post on PM Qualities and posted a positive comment, Andrew Cooper. Check out his own fascinating Mindworks blog.

Another reader Daniel Simpson asks me how many of my PM Qualities I think Sarah Palin has: "Is Palin’s fitness for Huge Office not a concern?

Not easy to answer, not having met her (whereas I have seen successive British PMs in close action). But I watched her performance v Joe Biden where she did not disgrace herself. So let’s try to score her anyway:

1     Integrity (more than most politicians, I’d say (indeed her naivete here might be a weakness); has not been mentored by Marxist extremists, which helps.)

2     Upholding/improving Standards (Alaskan voters seem to think she has scored well here; would try to stop earmark corruption)

3     Clarity of Purpose (speaks like a normal friendly human being (ie not a natural politician), but clarity of purpose harnessed to serious inexperience is obviously not the best combination) 

4     Ambition, tempered by Teamwork (no reason to think she’s worse than eg Obama)

5     Willingness to Negotiate Hard, including by accepting the responsibility of confrontation when necessary (I think she’d be very strong here – firm, determined but also charming – once she had mastered the brief) 

6     Unfailing Courtesy, publicly and privately (ditto)

7     Promoting high-level Discipline through personal example (ditto)

8     Willingness to lose popularity for the right cause (No problem – she’d call ’em the way she sees ’em)

9     Hard-nosed focus on British interests in the EU: just Block if necessary (not applicable but would certainly be a ‘USA-first’ President, for better or worse and probably both)

10   Lead the Government – don’t give the Treasury a lock on many policy processes (Bound to be tentative at first and therefore prone to mis-steps or even blunders – but would pick it up quickly)

The point about my PM Qualities is that they assume many qualities are already there, as it is impossible to become a British Prime Minister without a significant reputation developed in the House of Commons arena  – a confined space where quick wits and political insight have to develop fast if an MP is not to shrivel up and die at the start. Any would-be PM also must have basic credibility in talking about EU and foreign policy.

In the USA it’s different – a good local leader can be propelled towards the highest offices with little or no experience of Washington or the wider world. Some might think that that is a serious weakness – others might argue that it keeps things fresh and interesting.

It follows that someone needs to work up a different list of qualities for a good US President. Most people would argue that to be ‘good’ in that sense you have to be a fine communicator – see Reagan and Clinton, utterly different but both darn’d effective.

Obama is scoring better than McCain in this respect. Palin has appealed strongly to millions of people, so that box is ticked. 

Her basic problem – and that of conservatives in the USA, as in the UK – is that her core philosophical message is not clear. We Support Not-Quite-So-Big Government does not cut it. 

And until she (and they) can sort that out, she (and they) will have lots of good qualities – and probably stay unelected..?