Over at his site, Andrew Sullivan links to Any Questions, a popular BBC radio show, and sees it as a glimpse of what the rest of world thinks of Sarah Palin. Maybe. He describes the show as “classic and peerless”. Well, it’s certainly been around for years (I’ve been listening to it on-and-off since goodness knows when), but it’s worth adding that it usually comes with a subtle, but unmistakable, center-left slant. Thus when Andrew reported the (unflattering, natch) views of one of the panelists on that edition of the show, one Bea Campbell, it came as no great surprise. Ms. Campbell is a well-known figure in Britain, but perhaps it might have been worth pointing out that this veteran leftist is unlikely ever to have given Sarah Palin a fair hearing. Now, I’m not claiming that Sarah Palin will prove to be particularly popular in Britain (time will tell), but some context might have been helpful.

Meanwhile, the (London) Spectator’s Fraser Nelson had a rather different reaction to the same show:

“I’ve just listened to Any Questions with women getting stuck into [Palin]. One question – from a woman – was “does being a ‘soccer mom’ qualify you to be vice president?” Erm, she’s Governor of Alaska with a robust record on reform, plus a former Mayor. Why focus only on her maternal status? And why not raise similar concerns about Obama and Biden who have not run anything larger than their personal staff of 30? The replies from the women on the panel – Dame Liz Fogan and Bea Campbell – were similarly dismissive of Palin. One, I think Campbell, admitted she has no rational explanation. She just despises Palin for a raft of reasons, including presentational ones…” I mean, really.