Sarah Palin and the American psyche

Two quick, related links.

First, Yuval Levin’s fantastic analysis of Sarah Palin and the American voter on both sides of the aisle.

Second, the way in which Esquire’s interview with Palin carefully transcribes her “dialect,” something I don’t know that a major publication has ever before done with a Democratic politician.  Normally, you get some fawning statement about a “soft southern accent,” or a “lilting southern cadence,” or “flat northern vowels giving weight to his statements.”  You don’t get a Mark Twain-esque attempt at dialect.