A Quick Word on Sarah Palin

This is some next-level shit. This woman is some new (de)volutionary example of the mediagenic meta-politician.

Don't get me wrong - I think she's a flash in the pan. I'd put money on it. But her journey, if you can call it that, is quickly becoming an archetype.

See, the battle over Palin was never about her qualifications for higher office. It was pretty much an open admission, on both left and right, that she didn't have any. Rather, the debate over Palin centered around vague notions about the "fair" and "proper" way to treat a media personality, even one who chose to be in the limelight.

Her supporters think she got a bad rap. Their impression of her is based solely on how they think she handled the (perceived) assault of the media. The "full-court press," as Palin herself put it.

It isn't hard to imagine this becoming the principle standard by which future candidates will be judged. The public wants to see how a candidate handles the image of being a candidate, they don't have time to compare relative merits based on record.

This is a double-edged sword, and Obama shares responsibility for it too. His campaign also effectively skirted issues of qualifications with impressive deployment of presidential imagery.

Of course, modern politics has always been image-based. But I think this is a new variable in the equation, and it's rather a worrying one.