The lede of my article in the Oct. 20 issue of NR:

Although Sarah Palin’s GOP- convention address was full of partisan zingers, one of its most memorable passages was anything but pit-bullish. It touched gently on her infant boy’s Down syndrome: “To the families of special-needs children all across the country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House.”
Palin didn’t elaborate. It wasn’t necessary: The words humanized her before an audience that was hearing her voice for the first time. Yet her promise to promote the interests of special-needs children holds the potential to do more than target sympathy voters. It puts her in position to become the patron mother of one of the most hopeful developments in conservative education reform: the marriage of special education and school choice.

NYT:

ST. LOUIS — In her first policy speech of the presidential campaign, Gov. Sarah Palin vowed Friday that a McCain administration would allow all special-needs students the choice of attending private schools at public expense, a controversial and potentially costly proposal likely to be welcomed by many parents and bitterly opposed by many school districts.