Sarah Palin--The Damage Done

Andrew linked to this already, but let me also chime in on Marc's fascinating take on the actual effects of the Palin selection:

The gender gap in Pew's poll is huge -- 17 points among women in Obama's favor, and only four points among men in McCain's.  And Obama has a double-digit lead in the swing states.

Quinnipiac's latest set of swing states polls finds Palin with a net negative impression in several states, including Florida, where she's spent quite a bit of campaign time. The numbers in Florida are stunning, in a sense; there's been a net swing of 13 points in Obama's favor during the past two weeks. He's even competitive among white voters, with McCain besting him by only five points.

I'm happy to see this, not just as an Obama supporter, but frankly, as an American. One of the great mistakes I think we sometimes make is buying the whole "Americans are stupid" case. As someone who frequently feels stupid when either listening to my intellectual betters hold forth, or when reading a great book, I never liked that argument. If people aren't reading or aren't taking an interest in the greater world, the thing to do is to ask questions (Why would that be?) as opposed to making statements (Because they're dumb). It also gives liberals a false comfort--Oh we can't win because our side is more sophisticated--when what we should be doing is working hard on the sale.

But I digress. It's hard not to see some justice in this. I've never believed that bigotry (and that's what the Palin pick is) rewards people in the long-term. But every once in awhile it's nice to see bigotry, ignorance and cravenness punished immediately.