This amounts to a very rough paraphrase, with a twist some might not expect, but here goes: Governor Palin, we lived with Dan Quayle in office. We knew Dan Quayle. Dan Quayle was a "friend" of ours. And, governor, you're no Dan Quayle.

The cadence has gone down in history as a classic evisceration. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen of Texas, running mate of Democrat Michael Dukakis in 1988, unleashed it in a TV debate to rip the Republican vice presidential candidate, Sen. Dan Quayle of Indiana.

Quayle, 41 at the time, had posited that his congressional experience was comparable to John F. Kennedy's when Kennedy sought the White House. Bentsen, evoking his familiarity with Kennedy, blew the comparison to smithereens.

Quayle and Kennedy had indeed served in Congress for comparable periods. But what Bentsen really was driving at was Kennedy's substance -- an intangible leadership quality rooted in intellect, character and judgment along with experience that came to serve the young president and the nation well.

Here's the twist: Sarah Palin, on the substance spectrum, might turn out to be closer to Kennedy than Quayle.

That's not a comment on her policy views, which gravitate to the right (although when it comes to the big national issues, she'll have to do a lot of painting to fill in the canvas and explain just what her views are). It's to suggest that in the week and a half since she burst onto the scene as John McCain's choice for veep, she has given us reason to think that she's well above Quayle in smarts, political instincts and potential rapport with broad swaths of ordinary voters.

Her identity as hockey and Army mom, mother of five, athlete/outdoors person and reform-minded, head-knocking governor (even if for just 20 months) adds up to a dynamic and appealing public presence. No wonder the Republicans at their convention went bonkers at her big getting-to-know-her speech.

So let's assume that, barring some unforeseen stumble or unflattering revelation that won't go away, Palin will be an effective candidate and an asset to McCain's presidential run. Does McCain have anything to answer for in tapping someone who, to put it mildly, faces a huge learning curve?

If the vice president were expected, or required, essentially to be a deputy president in the Dick Cheney or even Al Gore mold, then Palin would not measure up.

She would have been put on the ticket as a matter of expedience and, if elected, would have served her purpose, but she would lack the expertise to pull her oar on issues such as how to effectively counter terrorism, deal with a re-emergent Russia and safeguard America's place in the world economy.

Beyond that, what about the unpleasant possibility that McCain wouldn't finish out his term? He would have set things up so that if, for him, worse came to worst, he'd be succeeded by someone who might still be figuring out which end of Pennsylvania Avenue was which. On that score McCain must have decided he could justify taking a gamble. Voters will decide whether they think the gamble was prudent.

As to Palin's role as a vice president, McCain wouldn't have to give her a heavy-duty portfolio right off the bat, or at all. The Constitution specifies only that the vice president serves as presiding officer of the Senate -- a task normally delegated to junior senators. McCain could put her to use as an ambassador for his policies, a bridge to a younger generation of voters, a voice on women's and family issues.

All the while she could be going to school on the fearsomely complicated problems that a chief executive must expect to confront. She would be undergoing a grooming process that could leave her well-positioned to contend for the presidency herself, and McCain would have been largely responsible for creating a second credible female presidential candidate, following Hillary Clinton.

When it comes to Palin's skimpy experience, the most worrisome words Democrats can hear are, "So what?" She could prove so strong a campaigner that 20 months as governor of Alaska will be all her admirers need. And Barack Obama can't afford to harp on the experience issue too loudly.

Even Dan Quayle managed to get elected, as voters were so determined to put George H.W. Bush into the White House instead of Dukakis that Quayle qualms were discounted. Even Abe Lincoln got elected -- as a former one-term congressman.

Leadership potential, character, personal style, experience, positions on the issues -- from among that mix of factors, in blends that all of us can determine for ourselves, will come the formula by which we'll choose our next president, and vice president, too. It should be fun to watch.

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