So Loving SARAH!

Governor Palin remains the brightest star of the entire campaign!

Thousands attend a rally for Republican presidential nominee John McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin and and their families at the Green High School Memorial Stadium October 22, 2008 in Green, Ohio.

See more Palin photos below.

She's endured a torrent of abuse from the left and even some elitists on the right. Her privacy and that of her family have been invaded and they have been viciously smeared in a way that would never be tolerated if the candidate were a Democrat.

Democrats in the "news" media say she's a drag on the ticket. If that's true, why did they attack her so viciously? No matter who McCain had selected, the game plan to demonize that person would have gone ahead as scheduled. Different face, same strategy.

Sure, there have been some elitist inside the beltway Republicans in Washington and elsewhere critical of Palin. But frankly, we can do without those people. They are part of the reason the country is in such a mess. They lost touch with the real America a long time ago.

Through it all, Governor Palin has remained cheerful, positive and optimistic. To cite and old cliche, to the GOP faithful: she's the best thing since sliced bread.

Sarah Palin: 'I Haven't Always Just Toed the Line'
The GOP's vice-presidential pick says she'd work on energy, government reform and special-needs kids in the White House.
By KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL
The Wall Street Journal
November 1, 2008

Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Ask Sarah Palin what she has found most surprising about her campaign experience and she replies, with more than a touch of humility, "the enthusiasm." She's got a point.

Wending my way through the traffic and crowds around the Palin event in this small river city on Thursday morning, I began to wonder if the whole state hadn't shown up. Walking the cold half-hour from the nearest parking space, I passed mobs of disappointed voters who had already been turned away for lack of space. Inside the city's Show Me Center, thousands of roaring, stomping, sign-waving Palin fans were practically hanging from the rafters. It felt like, well . . . an Obama rally.

And there you have the paradox of Sarah Palin. The press has brutalized the Alaska governor, playing gotcha with her record, digging through her family life. The liberal intelligentsia has declared her unfit for office, a rube, a right-wing maniac. The conservative intelligentsia has accused her of being a lightweight, of "anti-intellectualism." Polls suggest a significant number of voters believe she is not up for the job.

Yet her supporters idolize her -- all the more because of the criticism. Mrs. Palin has, for millions of Americans, become a symbol of a reformist average Jane, a working mom, ready to take on the Washington they detest. Talking to Missourians before the event, I heard little mention of flashpoint issues like her religious views, or her experience. I was instead repeatedly, and vociferously, informed that a Vice President Palin would "fix that place" and "shape up the GOP." I also heard a lot about how she would accomplish all this because she was a "real" person.
...
"I think those who would criticize what I believe I represent -- and that is, everyday, hardworking American families who desire and deserve reform of government -- I think they are out of touch with what the rest of the nation is talking about today. It's a reflection of some elitism that assumes that the best and the brightest of this country are all assembled in Washington, D.C., and I beg to differ. You can walk out in the rally that we are going to attend in a minute, and you talk to anyone there, and I believe you will hear the same thing. Enough of that arrogance. Enough of that assumption that unless you are a part of that Washington elite that you aren't worthy of serving this great country."

She is equally blunt in her retort to those who say she's not up to the job. "I'll tell you, some within the party who have criticized me -- or John McCain's pick of me -- I think some of this underlying criticism is again coming from the hierarchy. It is because I haven't always just toed the line in the party. I'm not wired to do that. I want reform of our party, I want to be able to prove that our party is worthy of leading this country. And I'm not going to just go along to get along. I've never been able to do that. It bodes well for someone's character, I believe, and is a strength."

Governor Palin continues to pack crowds into arenas up to the rafters. Wherever she goes the crowds she attracts are 4 to 10 times the size of similar nearby event for Dem V.P. nominee Joe Biden (see here and here). It would seem obvious to anyone but a Washington insider that the real drag on a national ticket is Joe Biden.

Republican vice presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks to supporters, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008, in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Governor Palin speaks to a crowd during a rally in Fort Wayne, Ind., Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin greets supporters as she enters a campaign rally with Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and his wife Cindy, not shown, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008, in Hershey, Pa.

Anderson Arena at Bowling Green State University filled to the rafters to welcome Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin October 29, 2008 in Bowling Green, Ohio. Joe Wurzelbacher, also known as "Joe the plumber" of nearby Holland, Ohio, campaigned with Palin for the first time at the event.

Gov. Sarah Palin speaks to a crowd during a rally at the Bass Pro Shop in Springfield, Mo. Friday, Oct. 24, 2008.

YOU GO GIRL!