After a week when Sarah Palin was mercilessly mocked and pilloried in sections of the American media, a more pragmatic, less dismissive assessment of her impact on the presidential race is underway. For the Democrats and Barack Obama's cheerleaders in the east coast newspapers, the initial auguries are not terribly encouraging. In short, what they see is not what middle America sees.The insults thrown at John McCain's Republican running mate may not be soon forgotten by white middle class people like her, in places such as southern Ohio, who could decide a tight race. "Cosmetics saleswoman in Macy's", "Veep in go-go boots", "Shrill moose-hunting Mom" and many similar comments revealed a surprising degree of gender and class prejudice lurking under liberal carpets. And they reinforced the "elitist" charge levelled at the Obama camp.
The extraordinary depth of instant media intrusion into Palin's personal life recalled the calumnies suffered by Bill Clinton before and after his 1992 election, which Democrats then angrily condemned. Likewise much of what has been alleged so far about Palin turns out to be untrue.