The Resentment of Sarah Palin

An eye-opening read from the New Republic on the pathos and jealousy that appear to drive Palin to her own version of class warfare - and the unthinking politicization of trivia that have marked her career. Key line:

For her, it's not so much a political tool as a motivating principle. A trip through Palin's past reveals that almost every step of her career can be understood as a reaction to elitist condescension--much of it in her own mind.

And this:

"Sarah is intimidated, in my personal opinion, by people who are intelligent," [Wasilla council member] Laura Chase says.

And this:

"I would describe it this way: Sarah was not an in-depth person. Never has, never will be," [Wasilla City Attorney] Deuser says. "Her instincts are political as opposed to evaluative."

Thanks to stories like this, I've begun to see Palin's story as more tragic than anything else. It's a story that's all too common. Here is a woman who grew up with a working-class background - a natural Democrat - who fell into radical religious fundamentalism and bought the patronizing elite-bashing of the modern Republican party, and now fights the class war on the wrong side, for the party of the wealthy. Equally sad is that, in Palin's case, these decisions that led her to where she is seem partly to be the result of her own personal limitations.

In many ways, it's the tragedy of what-could-have-been not just for Sarah Palin, but for many, many other working-class Americans.