The harpies can diss Sarah Palin all they want.  (Thanks, Mary.)  The more they rag on her, the more they look like the we're-so-cool cliques we all hated in high school.  And they're at about that level, too, because the truth is they can't touch Sarah's authenticity. 

 

Who cares about her hairstyle?  She's energized the base in a big way.

 

And the issue isn't experience, much as the Obama camp wants to paint that picture.

 

It's CHANGE.  The McCain-Palin ticket has taken the wind out of Obama's mainsail and dang near snapped the mast (nautical reference as a nod to Sarah's great comment in her speech on Saturday: "A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not why the ship is built").

 

Real change, as opposed to change rhetoric.

 

We get that, loud and clear, even here in blue-collar America.

 

Tell you what, Mr. Obama.  I'm a 50-something grandma. I've voted in every presidential election since 1972.  That's nine of 'em.  This November will be the tenth.  Want to know how long it's been since I've actively signed on to work for a campaign -- contribute to it, ring doorbells for it, slap a bumper sticker on my car, wear a button, talk up the ticket to everybody I know?

 

Since Johnson ran against Goldwater in 1964.  And please note that I was too young to vote at the time (and had no car); my cousin and I just liked the idea of prancing up and down our residential sidewalk chanting "LBJ for the USA".

 

About ten seconds after I found out Palin was on McCain's ticket, I signed up. 

 

Change from authenticity trumps smooth talk in my southern Illinois neighborhood.  We know the real deal when we see it.