The Palin Effect

One of the more fascinating aspects of the Sarah Palin extravaganza is the inability of even those who seem to detest everything thing about her to stop talking about her. My office (and my city) is filled with people who are die-hard Democrats, people who voted against Hillary in the primaries because she was too conservative. However, these same people seem incapable of getting Sarah Palin off their minds, or out of their conversation. Ever since she was announced as the GOP VP pick, she has been the constant topic of conversation, even when the conversation is overwhelmingly negative. Even if people are simply repeating the same, already-tired jokes about moose hunting and the "failure of abstinence-only education" and whatnot, they can't help but talk about Palin.

Obama seems to have been completely eclipsed on the nation's cultural landscape, something that would have sounded inconceivable as recently as a month ago, and in a race that may simply come down to which candidate has more momentum heading into November, Palin has put the McCain team in the frontrunner's position.