Just a few comments on the interview that KJL linked to (here):
1) Sarah Palin may think of herself as Joe Sixpack, and you could argue that she represents Joe Sixpack — but she’s governor of her state! She is not Joe Sixpack. She is one of 50 governors in America. Come on, Sarah. The New Yorker may think of you as a hunter and a rube. But you’re not fooling the rest of us — governor.
2) At the same time, the Palins obviously have many “Joe Sixpack” concerns — e.g., will there be enough money? Which reminds me:
3) People knock Palin for not having much foreign travel. A) She lives in Alaska, which is very remote. B) She and her husband have been raising several kids on modest incomes. C) She has had very responsible and demanding jobs, such as mayor and governor. D) She is not a junketeer. E) I doubt there has been much money or time for international running around.
4) She said, “I don’t belong to any church.” I think that would surprise many people. She continued, “I do have a strong belief in God . . .” If a Democrat made exactly that statement — “I don’t belong to any church. I do have a strong belief in God” — I think most of Palin’s critics would like it a lot. Don’t you?
5) She said that she has an Israeli flag in her office (gubernatorial office). Why? Because she admires Israel. But she knows or cares nothing about the world, of course (according to her critics). Would you like to know something that will really peg me as Joe Neocon? I have an Israeli flag, too, at home. Ain’t flying — but it’s in a drawer somewhere. Got it in the Tel Aviv airport, I think. (You know I have to go there every few months, to get my instructions.)
I have other flags too — including an Albanian one. I guess that still leaves me in “neocon” territory, because the Albanians are wildly pro-American. But I have a Greek flag, too — and ain’t no one more anti-American than the Greeks. So that makes me kind of cool, doesn’t it?
6) Hugh Hewitt asked Palin whether her son in Iraq had phoned her. She answered, “That little stinker — I guess he’s called his girlfriend a couple of times, but can you believe he hasn’t called his mama yet?” Absolutely charming, in my view.
7) She can’t use “I” and “me,” no — but neither can most people. Including Barack Obama, who famously avowed that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright had “married Michelle and I.”
See you!