Betsy McCougney originated the term “death panels”, in her NY race and debate, and appeared using the term on FOX, and was bashed for it by Jon Stewart on his show.
Sarah smartly picked up the dead-on phrase, twittered it as her own, attributed it to no one, and has gotten by with owning it ever since, thanks partly to her fans, who from the get-go required nothing original from Sarah at any point after the sparkling speech at the convention. Given her utilitarian purpose to McCain where she dutifully served, Palin was properly perched to garner broad exposure to Betsy’s remark, pull it off as her own, and keep the accolades.
Prettier than you, is she?