Douthat's Palin Op-Ed

More from the Douthat op-ed:

"John McCain was offering her a spot on a national ticket. It was the chance of a lifetime.
And now, seemingly, it’s over. Oh, maybe not forever: she’s only 45, young enough (and, yes, talented enough) to have a second act. But last Friday’s bizarre, rambling resignation speech should take her off the political map for the duration of the Obama era."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/06/opinion/06ross.html

Tsk tsk, Douthat. She'll be on the political map for most if not all of the remainder of the Obama era. Perhaps only that period of time, but still.

The reason Douthat's wrong about a Palin-less Obama era: it'll take people that long to figure her out. People are fascinated, and will be so until Palin becomes a known quantity -- something that was made less likely, not more likely, by the resignation speech.

Again, credible McCain plucked her out of obscurity. Unless/until those people projecting on her favorable characteristics come to know her and become convinced that the empress has no clothes, she will remain on their radar.

You will have Palin to push around for awhile, Douthat. So again I say: shame on you, Douthat. You have a cool name, and little else. As a consequence of your Palin op-ed, I hereby pronounce your meteoric rise to the op-ed page of the Times, over.

During the Obama era, at least.