If future historians ever wish to find a window into the American political zeitgeist prior to the 2008 election, they should refer to the op-ed page of the October 28thm 2008 Washington Post, which today features yet another prominent Republican (this time a Republican dynasty former U.S. Senator) and a highly respected Independent woman explaining why they are voting for Barack Obama and not for John McCain.  Today’s op-ed page, which I savored over coffee and pancakes this morning, also features two superbly written deconstructions of the McCain/Palin campaign, one of which unmasks the plot to unleash upon America the “Palin mystique.”

I recommend reading all four of these editorials. But in Palin’s Love Boats, Richard Cohen unleashes the most devastatingly revealing words so far written or spoken about the Conservative intellectual elite who, despite all the evidence, continue to advocate for Sarah Palin.

“Palin is a down-the-line rightie, so her inexperience, her lack of interest in foreign affairs, her numbing provincialism and her gifts for fabrication…do not trouble her ideological handlers. Let her get into office. They will govern.”

In Campaign on Empty, one of my personal favorite columnists, Eugene Robinson describes the fatal misjudgment of the McCain campaign:

“In choosing a running mate, McCain made an absolute mockery of his “country first” slogan and instead put politics above all other considerations. It suffices to note that the Anchorage Daily News — the biggest newspaper in Palin’s state — endorsed Obama, saying that Palin was being stretched “beyond her range” and that she clearly is not ready to be “one 72-year-old heartbeat from the leadership of the free world.”

“It’s hard to imagine that a McCain presidency could possibly be as scattered, irresponsible, uninspiring and intellectually bankrupt as the McCain campaign. It’s even harder to imagine that Americans, at this crucial juncture, will take that risk.”