True. Good points. I’m far more concerned about a candidate’s policies than where he or she went to college. As SP keeps repeating, solving our country’s problems takes common sense and not the overthinking that comes with attempts to reengineer society.
I just know that the reason Obama won is because he energized people and got them all out to vote for him. Sarah has the potential to do that, and she already has done that to us on the right. To get the “Obama youth” if you will, (assuming that they aren’t already disillusioned enough not to bother voting in 2012), Sarah needs to be “cooler,” and her accent just isn’t the coolest. I have overheard an alarming amount of “I just can’t stand the way she talks,” during discussions of SP, and I don’t want something like that to keep her from winning an election. Yes, the accent is superficial, but it’s also getting negative attention and invites mockery. Anything that might stand between her and a successful 2012 race should be addressed.
You realize, of course, that there is no way we (or SP) can get the "Obama youth". Nor, I would hazard, we wouldn't want them.
Gov. Palin does have "it". Star-power. She can command a room. She can command a stage. She's the first GOP candidate to have "it" since Ronald Reagan.
And a major part of "it", in her case, is her authenticity. She's genuine. She is who she is. You can tell it from her speaking and her writing. Anything lacking in authenticity -- an affected accent, whatever -- will detract from her appeal.
If somebody is going to make a voting decision on something so superficial as an accent, they simply aren't a conservative voter to start with. If she loses them because they're so superficial, she'll pick up more people from the middle -- who will respond to her as she is.