Sarah Palin, Brainiac

A former editor of Ms. magazine, a Democrat, Elaine Lafferty met Gov. Sarah Palin on the campaign plane and came to this conclusion--Sarah Palin's a brainiac. Lafferty pushes back against the snotty commentators who have never actually even met Sarah Palin, but have dismissed her. And did you hear Gov. Palin gave a speech on women's rights? I didn't and I thought I was a total news junkie. It wasn't covered. What a surprise by our in love with Barack Obama MSM. So what does Lafferty think about Sarah? She's smart. Very smart.

Now by “smart,” I don't refer to a person who is wily or calculating or nimble in the way of certain talented athletes who we admire but suspect don't really have serious brains in their skulls. I mean, instead, a mind that is thoughtful, curious, with a discernable pattern of associative thinking and insight. Palin asks questions, and probes linkages and logic that bring to mind a quirky law professor I once had. Palin is more than a “quick study”; I'd heard rumors around the campaign of her photographic memory and, frankly, I watched it in action. She sees. She processes. She questions, and only then, she acts. What is often called her “confidence” is actually a rarity in national politics: I saw a woman who knows exactly who she is.

For all those old enough to remember Senator Sam Ervin, the brilliant strict constitutional constructionist and chairman of the Senate Watergate Committee whose patois included “I'm just a country lawyer”… Yup, Palin is that smart.

Here's the speech on women's rights. It's powerful. Watch: