Sarah Palin, populist???

In case anyone seriously thinks Failin' Palin is a populist, she's the most phony-baloney populist ever to tread the face of the planet.

Palin's disastrous performance in last night's debate didn't make her look very genuine. She used an unauthentic speaking style that lapsed willy-nilly between big, high-sounding words and folksy, populist-sounding expressions.

Paul Campos wrote an op-ed for Scripps Howard News Service that makes the grave error of calling Palin a populist. Scripps Howard is known for its off-base, frequently preposterous commentaries. Campos's piece hits the nail on the head - except it mistakes Palin's hodgepodge of indignation and ignorance for populism.

Palin is about as far from a populist as you can get.

I don't mean that just on the economic matters that Republicans have long held dear in their "soak-the-poor" Bizarro World. It's true of the culture war issues as well.

Many of the socially conservative stances that have gained traction in the GOP fold in recent decades are actually rooted in greed as much as control. Centuries ago, for instance, the forerunners of today's Far Right created bigoted canards as an excuse to exploit and oppress others.

That wasn't populism. That was unchecked gluttony - quite the opposite of what populism is all about.

A user of one message board told me I couldn't be a populist because my views on one axis canceled out my views on the other. Quite the contrary. There is a place for progressive populism.

Failin' Palin might not have had as privileged of an upbringing as Bush did, but in her political career she has certainly been one of the elite. Her presence on the McCain ticket continues this pattern, for McCain has proposed countless breaks for Big Business but nothing to help the working class.

(Work cited: http://www.kypost.com/content/middleblue3/story.aspx?content_id=4b230d62-eb1f-4f47-8223-99bae4d1ea0c)