Jimmy Orr at The Christian Science Monitor gives a catalog of media criticism of Sarah Palin’s “You betcha, darn right, heckuva lot” kind of talk. What I keep waiting for in all of this is a comparison to Bill Clinton’s way of biting his lower lip and “feeling your pain.”
So I’ll have to do it myself. I can’t say I like one of these techniques a lot more than the other. I would probably like them even less if I had ever seen or heard them myself. But I say that those who criticize Palin need to show their anti-Clinton credentials. Did they criticize him for his faux-folksy-empathy? If not, they should shut up. If they did, they should feel free to criticize Palin, too.
And the conservative commentators who made fun of Clinton’s schtick might want to watch their step in defending Palin on this topic.