James Wolcott has an especially pregnant bon mot regarding, as Wolcott (channeling TBogg) puts it, Levi Johnston’s success at getting his “hockey puck into Bristol’s net.” Writes Wolcott: “Seems to me here’s been a little bit too much drilling up in Alaska lately, if ya know what I mean.” Funny stuff, but not pure frivolity; Wolcott’s hijinks gesture at a serious political question.
No doubt one reason the McCain camp chose Palin is that she has a “compelling personal narrative” — one that appeals simultaneously to Hillaryites and a conservative base whose response to McCain himself has been lukewarm. The question, then, is will McCain’s effort at triangulation (“Trigonometry”?) backfire as the slew of bizarre revelations concerning Palin’s personal side — pregnant daughter, husband once a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a newborn infant with Downs syndrome — make Palin seem too weird? (Note that I am not asking whether the revelations should have this effect; mine is a purely empirical inquiry.)
