Without interviewing the Alaskan governor, Vanity Fair’s Todd Purdum did an extensive profile on Sarah Palin, a woman he calls the “sexiest and the riskiest brand in the Republican party.”

Here are the questions Purdum asks rhetorically in his piece titled “It Came from Wasilla”:

What does it say about the nature of modern American politics that a public official who often seems proud of what she does not know is not only accepted but applauded? What does her prominence say about the importance of having (or lacking) a record of achievement in public life? Why did so many skilled veterans of the Republican Party—long regarded as the more adroit team in presidential politics—keep loyally working for her election even after they privately realized she was casual about the truth and totally unfit for the vice-presidency? Perhaps most painful, how could John McCain, one of the cagiest survivors in contemporary politics—with a fine appreciation of life’s injustices and absurdities, a love for the sweep of history, and an overdeveloped sense of his own integrity and honor—ever have picked a person whose utter shortage of qualification for her proposed job all but disqualified him for his?

His points – that Palin clashed with staff of the McCain campaign, that she is something of a diva – are not groundbreaking. Here’s his assessment of the campaign:

It is the story of a political novice with an intuitive feel for the temper of her times, a woman who saw her opportunities and coolly seized them. In every job, she surrounded herself with an insular coterie of trusted friends, took disagreements personally, discarded people who were no longer useful, and swiftly dealt vengeance on enemies, real or perceived.

The author puts another question to his readers that is perhaps more serious: Palin has complained of the media’s treatment of her and her family – should she be more open to giving interviews for pieces like this?

Update 4:30 p.m. – The Washington Times has two McCain staffers going on the record about the Vanity Fair piece:

Jason Recher, who worked closely with Mrs. Palin as a vice presidential candidate, said “The mean tone of this article is completely false, this is not the Sarah Palin I knew and spent two and a half months with.”  He also said he was tired of reporters using information about Mrs. Palin from people unwilling to go on the record.

And another said something similar:

David Welch, deputy research director for the McCain-Palin ticket, said he was “shocked to read the Vanity Fair article about Governor Palin and the allegations made against her by former staffers” and complained “significant parts of the story are based on half truths and gossip from staffers who refused to go on the record.”