I agree it's a horrible analogy, and that was my point: Obamas use of a teleprompter has been raised several times as an excuse (which is a bit like saying it would be OK for the Allies to do medical experiments on captured Nazis because they did it, too) but it's apples and grapefruit. No Republican worth their salt should, IMHO, need a reminder they want to cut taxes.
I don't consider Palin a foreign policy expert for the same reason I didn't consider Bush one: They'd never had cause to look at it much until they ran for national office. I don't consider Obama a foreign policy expert for a similar reason, not so much that he's never been to the US Senate as that he didn't even finish his first term before running for President. His extensive personal travel abroad mitigates that a little, just as having Bush 41 for a dad did for Bush 43, but not enough. If you want to parse it that much, fine: Palin isn't necessarily stupid, but a disproportionate number of things she says are (like claiming live within 1000 miles of the Bering Strait made her knowledgeable about foreign policy; that was far more plausible when Bush said it about Mexico. )

Yes, we know exactly why she said it: Because her foreign policy experience is non-existent and it was the best she could do to refute that argument. I sincerely doubt NORAD regularly briefs the Governor of Alaska on what's they're doing in the state. Thank you for playing, Sarah, we have some lovely parting gifts for you....

I think you'll be hard pressed to find many hardcore Palin supporters who don't also self-identify as "evangelical Christians" (a term I detest because it is, or should be, redundant; does that mean they're the only Christians who accept the Great Commission?) They're out there, but not the majority, and she knows it, too, hence the Pro Life, anti-sex ed appeals that became so embarrassing when her daughter got pregnant in HS and the father tried to become a centerfold. Of course, if one decides Palin, Obama or anyone can do no wrong it really doesn't matter what they do; we can lionize her for opposing corrupt government spending and ignore her pleas for federal pork as mayor of Wasilla, siccing the states executive branch on her ex-brother-in-law and billing the taxpayers for her daughters travel with her to a national governors meeting (and don't tell me she just couldn't find a sitter; Todd and the other kids stayed in Alaska. )

I seldom agreed with Bob Dole, but I always respected him, a lot more than his wife, in fact, but then, he didn't pull crap like that.

I question her commitment to a core issue she has trouble remembering.

I dunno, you seemed to divine "Texas" easily enough. Tolls on roads built by bonds are an issue mainly because people opposed to high taxation NORMALLY view it as a "double tax" (as Sen. Hutchison calls the toll roads, just one reason she'll mop the floor with Perry. ) Heck, the guy tried to put a toll on I-35 until Kay informed him that the feds weren't really cool with that (so Perry tried to buy back Texas' interest in the road just to toll it; I have mental images of Ft. Hood tanks going through toll booths.... ) The biggest problem I, personally, have with the HPV vaccine is that 1) vaccine manufacturers can't seem to find a preservative that isn't a known carcinogen (or worse) but won't just manufacture preservative free vaccines with shorter shelf lives, 2) the thing had only been on the market about six months and 3) as with the toll roads owned by a private Spanish firm, one of Perrys senior aides just happened to take a position with the company benefiting about that time. However, the hue and cry from the religious right was exactly what you'd expect: Teenagers won't have sex if no one tells them about it, but if you give them the vaccine they'll sell themselves on street corners. That conflict was to be expected; what was more noteworthy was that a supposedly far right Governor, heir to Bush and routinely stating his "family values" creds, totally betrayed his base on the issue. Again, Kay will mop the floor with Perry in the primary, and if you want an example of everything Palin claims to be, look there.

Huckabee didn't have any more liabilities as a member of the religious right than Palin does, and mitigated them somewhat because when he talks about "compassionate conservatism" his record shows it's more than talk. The same people on the left who would've screamed about Huckabee would scream about Palin in 2012, with the difference being Huckabee has repeatedly shown himself far more capable. But, hey, I'm on your side, man: I WANT the Republicans to nominate her in 2012. Bringing up Romney is just another good reason why; Romneycare is a disaster that Obama's inexplicably trying to take national, and he managed to do a complete 180 on abortion (proudly stating during his gubernatorial run that his wife donated to NARAL) and gun control between running for Governor of liberal MA and the time he sought the GOP Presidential nomination. The man stands for nothing save himself and Wall Street. If we're lucky; people worried about Huckabee as a Baptist minister should be at least as worried about Romneys MUCH closer relationship with the LDS upper echelons.

Senator is an excellent move to POTUS; without exception every US President has come from either a Governors mansion or the US Senate. There are pros and cons to both; Governors usually have more executive experience, but Senators have more national and international experience because they routinely deal with issues Governors never have to face (e.g. when Putin rears his head to say, "If you want to build a missile defense you have to back out of the ABM treaty first" or, y'know, DECLARING WAR!) Saying all the GOP candidates were more experienced than the Democratic ones works, provided you think Romney and Huckabee had more experience than Hillary Clinton and Mike Gravel (who spent 12 years in the Senate alone. ) Also, Biden had been in the Senate for nearly a decade before Dodd was elected to it. So, yes, except for Biden, Dodd, Clinton, Gravel and Richardson all the Republicans had more experience. Of course, the only Democratic primary contenders left then are Obama, Edwards and Kucinich.

EDIT: I forgot to note that showing an elementary school kid is a better speller than you, in front of cameras, and managing to mangle the UNCF motto twice in one sentence qualifies as a gaffe machine, and to a greater degree than Biden. I bet HE can spell "potato. " It is VERY hard for me to take people seriously when they say that's who represents them.