In its cover story on Sarah Palin, Newsweek gives an excellent rebuttal to the charge that her critics are simply "elitists" who can't empathize with ordinary Americans:
Elitism in this sense is not about educational or class credentials, not about where you went to school or whether you use "summer" as a verb. It is, rather, about the pursuit of excellence no matter where you started out in life. Jackson, Lincoln, Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Clinton were born to ordinary families, but they spent their lives doing extraordinary things, demonstrating an interest in, and a curiosity about, the world around them. This is much less evident in Palin's case.
Newsweek effectively sums up something that grates me about Palin, something that I've had trouble putting into words until now. It's not so much the way that she talks or the way that she winks and tries to flirt her way out of questions. It's the way that she embraces mediocrity and revels in her ignorance in the world around her. She truly is a female George W. Bush in that regard.
It is something that annoys me on a personal level. Growing up, I was taught that putting in less than 110% effort in any activity I engaged in was unacceptable. When I was in school, my parents told me that I could only make A's, because B stands for "bad" and C stands for "can't come home" (but they were just joking. Sort of). Both Republican and Democratic politicians have come up from less than privileged means by putting in that same effort.
It doesn't matter so much for being a Governor, nor would it matter if she were running for Congress. But if McCain were to win the election, there's a very real chance that she could become the President of the United States before four years is over. And it does matter for that.
It does matter that a possible president would rather wink at the camera than answer the question.
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