As the media foams about a “conservative crack-up,” it’s worth noting that many, if not all, of the prominent Republicans to have crossed the line to Obama are pro-choice, from Christopher Buckley to Colin Powell to radio mouth Michael Smerconish. This seems to me significant. Abortion is one of those issues that really cannot be finessed; it goes to the first things. If there are any high-profile endorsements of Obama by prominent conservative pro-lifers, I’ll be surprised. Obama is a lot of things, some of them inspiring, but he’s also a guy who fought legislation that would have made it illegal to abandon certain unwanted newborns to die of neglect. It’s related to the detestation of Governor Palin; those who hate her, hate her for cultural reasons. Yes, she’s governor of Alaska, as opposed to some complex and sophisticated state, like Arkansas. The unsolicited e-mail I get about Governor Palin frets about the myth that she’s a raving young-Earther, not that she was wrong about this or that public-policy question. Like the abortion-rights movement, she’s a symbol of an aspect of America that makes certain aspiring sophisticates uncomfortable.