Sarah Palin book signing in Ohio--

This video is making the rounds, a bit:



These are Palin's people. They don't really think about issues but they are concerned about them. They don't have a lot of facts, but they just know that Sarah Palin is a real American. They aren't sure about the guy we have in office now. They watch FOX News.

It's kind of easy to come off as snarky or as putting them down for not knowing what it is they like about her, or at least, not being able to articulate it. After all, she has a hard time articulating her qualifications, herself.



But you get her basic gist. And it's that she isn't "elitist". She isn't condescending to the people in the first video, she doesn't think she's "better than" them--she is speaking as one of them.

Basically, that is the gift she has. When she is criticized as being unqualified or worse, having a point of view that is "crazy", to her fans it sounds like it's their own values that are being questioned. Critics of her point out that she she is wrong on the facts, but to her believers, she doesn't tell lies. Her veracity isn't what they are interested in, because they already have proof of her authenticity. They like that she shakes things up and want to see her succeed because it would vindicate what they see as the best things they believe in--"fairness", "freedom", "liberty". Oh, and cutting all spending (say wha--?).

This isn't to say I sympathize with their point of view. Supporting a person without knowing what she has in store for them or even being informed enough to know why her policies (to the extent that she touts any) should be supported or not, believing utter hogwash about martial law and that Obama's books were all about Leninism and Marxism (yeah, that would have gone over great during the campaign), and letting themselves be taken in by the notion that they are the victims in the culture war (losing their freedom of religion?) are all very hard for me to understand.

I want to just assume these people are none too bright, but I can't. The videos are reminders that the facts vs. faith question doesn't pertain to religion alone.