Elitism: Almost by definition, any American officeholder from state governorship upward is part of the American political elite, regardless of prior personal background. As governor of an oil-rich state, Sarah Palin holds a unique place among American state governors and has enough political and fiscal clout in Alaska to make her personal background irrelevant. Her quality of being ‘every woman’ is purely superficial. ‘Every woman’ doesn’t have Sarah Palin’s political and fiscal power. To call Sarah Palin ‘every woman’ is to call her a stage prop.

But it is true that Sarah Palin is not YET a Washington insider, so in that sense she is not an elitist, whereas Barack Obama, a U.S. Senator, is indeed part of the Washington establishment, and the GOP will rightly make hay out of that.

On Sarah Palin’s convention speech: Her speech was entirely written by McCain’s staff. The “irreverence and sarcasm” were written in by McCain’s staff, although Palin, a former TV sportscaster, delivered other people’s words effectively.

McCain’s staff has also announced that, henceforward, Sarah Palin’s only activity on campaign will be reading written speeches, presumably prepared by McCain’s staff, because “She might make a mistake” otherwise. To my mind, this indicates less a lack of confidence in her poise and lucidity than it indicates a possible rift between Palin and McCain on policy, likely on immigration, which McCain does not want to reveal before the election.

RE: Comment #8, Capt. Janeway’s noting Rove’s exploitation of white racial anxiety.

That’s what troubles me about McCain’s pick of Palin for VP: It gives white racists a plausible cover for voting against Obama. Slate.com reports that, according to polls, white women voters are being drawn to Sarah Palin. Some of that shift may be due to white racial anxiety, and, if so, that may actually win the GOP the election. That’s depressing.

She’s not an elitist, she’s not a Washington insider, and she honestly looks like she doesn’t give a shit.

If she really doesn’t give a shit, that’s a bad sign for us all. For 8 years, we had someone who didn’t give a shit. Look where it’s gotten us.

Also, I am honestly and completely troubled by the repeated implication that “Barack Obama is elitist.”

What is the basis for this statement?

Could it possibly have something to do with the fact that people like Karl Rove want to tell white Americans that “this black man thinks he’s better than you”? I think it does.

Obama’s mother was only 18 when she gave birth to him. His father left his family. He fought for the things he has in life.

I call BS on “elitist.”