All Resentment, All the Time

Yes, it's the Palin book. Others have observed, and I fully agree, that her main calling-card has always been and remains the idea that liberals really, really don't like her (I'm afraid someone wrote a good post on that recently, and I've lost the link. Oops). It really is true. Here's Rachael Larimore over at XX:

But here is what I like about her: I love her energy and ambition. I admire her thick-as-hell skin. And yeah, we’re both Republicans, so she and I would probably agree on a lot of policy issues. And while this might not project cool-headed logic on my part, the sneering condescension she encounters from liberals drives me right into her arms. It's as if people can't disagree with her on the issues and yet acknowledge that she made an incredible journey from “hockey mom” to small-town mayor to vice-presidential nominee. At least not without mocking her kids' names or the clothes she wore before the infamous convention makeover.

Well, OK, it's not all resentment; there's also energy and ambition -- traits, however, that are not exactly rare in politicians of any stripe.

A few things about this, however. First...is there any evidence at all that liberals have "sneering condescension" for Palin beyond what Palin herself inspires? After all, liberals had no problem at all showing "sneering condescension" for George W. Bush, even though he had none of the supposed baggage that liberals don't like in Palin -- and liberals don't have that attitude about, say, Mitch McConnell, who managed to avoid the Ivys in his education. The obvious problem with this line of thinking is that if liberals mainly mock conservatives (Quayle, W., Palin) who act ignorant, and the ability to get liberals to mock you is the first thing that conservatives look for in a candidate, then Republicans wind up with only the inept as their leaders.

But what really got me to write this was...thick skin? Thick skin???? Larimore (and presumably other conservatives?) perceive Sarah Palin has having a thick skin?

Really -- I can't think of a politician today who appears to have a thinner skin than Sarah Palin. From the profiles of her early political career up to, well, her decision to write a book to settle scores with campaign staffers, there's just nothing in Palin's record to suggest that she has a thick skin. Is there?

It's like supporting Bill Clinton because he's so disciplined, or Nancy Pelosi because of her brilliant rhetorical skills. I'm prepared to believe there's something to like about Palin (and to be fair, Larimore does allow that perhaps Palin isn't actually cut out to be president), but I'm just not seeing that particular trait.