With Hurricane Gustav striking Louisiana, two million people fleeing, and the Republican Convention disrupted, Sarah Palin's moment of glory fades somewhat. Media enthusiasm for the Beauty-Queen-With-Rifle-And-A-Down-Baby made room for more serious topics, like the possibility that most of New Orleans's levees collapse again, as they did in 2005. This would be a disaster not only for poor citizens there, but also for Republicans whose image of indifference, greed and sheer incompetence skyrocketed after Katrina, three years ago.
It appears that, in this news cycle, some conservatives found the courage of putting in print the obvious: Palin is as qualified for the job as Dan Quayle in 1988, or judge Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court in 1991. Zero. So, Rick Brookhiser of the National Review, writes that, "Conservatives love Palin because she has a Downs baby and an M-16. For both sides, that is all on earth ye know and all ye need to know. You might call it mystical and childish."
And David Frum, former Bush's speechwriter: "It's a wild gamble, undertaken by our oldest ever first-time candidate for president in hopes of changing the board of this election campaign."
Most probably, these voices will remain a minority in the camp of conservatives of all stripes, terrified by the idea of being out of power in less than five months (the next President will take office on January 20, 2009). Nevertheless, Palin's moment as the White Knight, the savior of the Republican party, lasted only during the Weekend.
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