Palin tries to explain what preconditions are:
Yglesias pounces:
That’s just not what preconditions are. As Ilan Goldenberg says, she’s talking about the need to prepare before a meeting, which is different, “not negotiating until preconditions are met means not starting your negotiating until the other side has met some kind of condition you imposed.” That’s our current policy — that we need to isolate Iran until they preemptively give in to all our demands, and then we can talk. Obama’s proposal is also Palin’s proposal — to negotiate first in hopes of getting a deal. Of course you have to prepare. You don’t just fire up Air Force One and head to Pyongyang without some kind of bargaining strategy and preliminary meetings. But that’s uncontroversial.
The Dish 