WASHINGTON–A conservative columnist who welcomed Sarah Palin's entry in national politics says she's proven to be a dud and should step aside as Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate.

Kathleen Parker, writing in the National Review Online, says her "cringe reflex is exhausted" after watching the Alaska governor stumble through TV interviews and it's become clear to her that Palin is out of her league.

"No one hates saying that more than I do," Parker writes. "Like so many women, I've been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I've also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does.''

Palin, new to national politics, boosted McCain in polls and excited the party's core conservatives when he chose the first-term governor for his ticket. Some of that shine has since worn off in polls.

Parker said she thought Palin was a "refreshing feminist of a different order" when she joined the ticket, but it's become clear she doesn't know enough about economics or foreign policy to be president should that become necessary in a McCain administration.

"Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves," Parker writes. "She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first.''

Palin, meanwhile, said Thursday she will donate to charity more than $1,000 in campaign contributions from two Alaska politicians implicated in a federal corruption probe.

Palin said she also is giving back $1,000 from the wife of one of the men. The move came a few hours after The Associated Press reported Palin had accepted the money during her successful 2006 run for governor. She was elected easily after she promised to rid Alaska's capital of dirty politics.

Palin took aim at gift-giving to state officials as part of her ethics agenda but received thousands of dollars' worth of gifts since she took office nearly two years ago. State records dating back to 2006, when Palin took office, show that she or her family received 29 gifts valued at about $14,500.

Also yesterday, Alaska Attorney General Talis Colberg filed suit in Anchorage yesterday to block a legislative investigation into Palin's firing of the state's police chief.

The governor says the legislative probe is politically biased.