For what it's worth, I am obviously a Palin fan, and was planning to abstain from presidential voting in 2008 (as I did in 1996 and 2000).

I read Palin's wikipedia entry (sans any photos) the morning she was announced as VP, and was 90% of the way toward being where I am now, re enthusiasm, before I had much, if any, idea what she looks like.

Everything she has done since then merely reinforced my impression. Kind of like the story Seabiscuit, where in the film, as in real life, the owner met the trainer, the trainer found the horse, and the horse effectively picked its jockey, all based on spur-of-the-moment chance encounters. Palin, like Seabiscuit, is a true diamond -- though not apprehended by all.

Her charm is just a bonus. A very nice bonus, but a bonus all the same. As for good looks, I really couldn't care less. I like Angela Merkel too, and she isn't known for great looks.

First, by way of background, it's surprising sometimes to see smart liberals pick up bad cues from the media.

Case in point. Lots of people have been posting here lately that Michelle Bachmann is the real deal on the feminine right. How come? Some liberal wags wrote columns to that effect in recent weeks, and suddenly it's all the rage. I think it's rather unlikely that Bachmann will emerge beyond her present position (which is not a bad one, by any means).

Another canard, which Romneyite Bay Buchanan has been pushing on CNN, is that no one will want to support Sarah Palin because she is too flightly.

That's amusing, because Palin disclosed having 11,000 PAC supporers already this June, and she passed 1,000,000 Facebook supporters earlier today. What about institutional support? You can hire some people -- Mike Huckabee hired Ed Rollins.

For other kinds of support, look at conservatives4palin.com. They started with a hundred bucks, and now have a full time volunteer web site which is cross-linked to National Review and others, and recently was commended by Palin herself for fact checking the AP's fact checking of her. (They kicked 100% of the AP's ass). CP4 recently noted that their web hits have doubled that of David Frum's high priced professional journal -- a "serious" thing devoted to anti-Palin Republicanism.

Of all the things for you to worry about, I would put "Sarah Palin's ability to attract support" near the bottom.

By the way, why are we always hearing from "Republican strategists" in the media, typically anonymously? Good grief, that's nauseating. Being a stage hand does not impart any special knowledge, re song writing or music making, from where I sit.

Remember, the words rogue, whack job, and diva were all used by McCain aides to describe Sarah Palin before last year's election. In fact, right on the verge of the election as McCain battled through his third debate to gain traction and have a fighting chance for a decent close.

It was absolutely unbelievable, in terms of organizational disloyalty. Even if you think they were in the right, you save that stuff for later. You don't do it 10 days out, when early voting is underway.

From the exceprts I have seen, Palin paints Wallace as a disloyal, obnoxious aide whose chief aim was to please her once (and future?) liberal employer, Katie Couric, while Schmidt is made the atheist foil in a purposefully vague discussion of creation and natural selection. Was Palin a Roman history major, or what?

I'm not offended by stuff you find on the internet, in terms of crassness. Something you see in magazine stands or in doctors' offices, on the other hand, is a slightly different matter.

Newsweek is putting out the message here that if you're not with their program, and you're a woman, you're going to be treated pretty badly, with sexual references to boot.

Of course, they need to realize that history is replete with terms of derision being adopted triumphantly -- Christian, Quaker, Calvinist, Lutheran, descamisado.

Here, you have Palin is a smashing pose being mocked with a line from a play which was written in honor of a wonderful, heroic woman. I think it helps her. Duh.

If you really want a liberal headache, go over to the Weekly Standard and National Review tonight and read their interviews with Palin. It's red meat for the appetizer, red meat for the entree, and red meat for dessert.

Her answer to the Fort Hood massacre? "Profile away." (Re future terror suspects)

On the president's serial bows? She is against "bows or kow tows." That's clasic -- it's entirely accurate to say that the president "either" bowed or kow towed. You could also say he either bowed or vomited.

She's also threatening to endorse Marco Rubio in Florida, a move sure to lighten my wallet. One of my little souvenirs is a 1955 pre-Castro tourist visa. I love Cuban-America.

Alas, so much for my non-original reporting. If I wished to close with something original, I might point out that the final stanzas of "How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria" were filmed in a church in the Salzkammergut near a palace of Elizabeth of Bavaria/Austria, a princess to whom I have often compared Sarah Palin. Unfortunately, Joan Walsh panned my last princess post, and thus deterred me from too many more. Cheers. :)

Don't worry re family deprivation. You can post on the laptop and talk to your wife while she watches The Hills all at the same time. I'd rather argue with you people than worry about Brody and Kristin.