Palin's OK, But What About Me? - Noonan

Good Commentary on 'American Catholic':

...So far as I can tell from personal observation, the reason people are swooning over Palin’s “authenticity” is not really that she rides snow machines and shoots moose (though it’s true that many of us men have a soft spot in our hearts for attractive women who dig male past times) but rather that she seems set apart from many politicians in that she says what she believes and believes what she says. Key among these: she says she’s pro-life, she’s a member of Feminists For Life, and shows good signs of living her convictions. Further, people believe that she’s serious for the simple reason that like many of the people they know in their own churches and neighborhoods: she just seems like an ordinary person who says what she believes — not like a politician...
...This is the thing about outside-the-beltway social conservatives which many conservative elites do not quite seem to get: We really care about what politicians views are on the topics dear to our hearts — and we care very little about how charming they’ve made themselves over the years in network green rooms and DC cocktail hours...

I agree. They don't get it. Palin lives it.