Pragmatics of 'refudiate'

From an online source:

"I don't think there is a perfectly good word with that meaning right now. I think that's why refudiate is so funny, and really in a way captures the spirit of some types of modern political debate. It's the combination of "refute"- to prove wrong (which implies actually having the information necessary to make a proof) and "repudiate" - to disclaim or reject (which doesn't actually require information as much as forceful opinion). It's the perfect word for what Palin and others like her do - they either don't have the information or can't be bothered to put it together to refute an argument, but they act as if they have proven something rather than just repudiating an argument. Or maybe they're repudiating the need to refute? I don't know, but something about that combination is really funny. I agree that her attempt to claim she intentionally made up a new word, as opposed to screwing up, is absurd and reflects really poorly on her. But the word itself has something going for it, I think."