Here’s a little news flash,’ Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska and the Republican candidate for Vice-President, announced in September, during her début at the Party’s Convention, in St. Paul. ‘I’m not a member of the permanent political establishment. And I’ve learned quickly these past few days that if you’re not a member in good standing of the Washington élite then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone.’ But, she added, ‘I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion.’ In subsequent speeches, Palin has cast herself as an antidote to the élitist culture inside the Beltway. ‘I’m certainly a Washington outsider, and I’m proud of that, because I think that that is what we need,’ she recently told Fox News. During her first interview as John McCain’s running mate, with ABC’s Charlie Gibson, Palin was asked about her lack of experience in foreign policy. She replied, ‘We’ve got to remember what the desire is in this nation at this time. It is for no more politics as usual, and somebody’s big fat résumé, maybe, that shows decades and decades in the Washington establishment . . . Americans are getting sick and tired […]