I'M SHOCKED, SHOCKED AT THIS – AT 8:25 A.M. ET:  The Politico is reporting this morning that Washington elites are down on Sarah Palin.  Aren't you as shocked as I am?  Take a pill please.  Zoloft is okay:

She told you so.

Washington elites, it turns out, do look down their noses at Sarah Palin.

The former Alaska GOP governor has been saying it for more than two years now, and a new POLITICO poll released Wednesday suggests she’s right.

Just 11 percent of the D.C. elites surveyed said they believe Palin is qualified to be president, less than half of the general public — 23 percent — who believe the same. Eighty-six percent of Washington elites — roughly 9 out of 10 — think Palin is not qualified, compared with 64 percent of the general public.

In addition, 79 percent of Washington elites believe Palin is a “negative influence in national politics” while just 15 percent find her to be “a breath of fresh air.” Outside the nation’s capital, however, more than twice as many believe she has had a positive impact on politics, while 50 percent see her as a negative influence.

If she had gone to Harvard, rather than to a state school, those "elite" figures would be different.  And all she'd have to do is utter four words – "I am pro choice" – and the numbers would change.

My first instruction in elitist thinking came in the 1950s, when the self-appointed protectors of American intellect ridiculed Dwight Eisenhower and had passionate love with Adlai Stevenson.  Why, Stevenson was an intellectual, whereas Ike was merely "an Army man."  In fact, Eisenhower had made history, and was much better read in it than the hapless Stevenson, who'd never met a common man whose name he remembered.  But Stevenson sounded so good, the way a president should sound.

Remember that it was elite opinion that shaped the reporting of the 2008 election, and gave us the image of Barack Obama as a godlike figure, filled with brilliant thoughts. 

I have my own doubts about Sarah, and have reported them here.  But a survey like this makes me cheer for her.

December 15, 2010