The XX Factor : Republican Convention

The Contendah

Melinda Henneberger — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 02:37:00 GMT

No, Emily , we should not judge Sarah Palin as a mother, no matter how beguilingly she and her impulsive soulmate invite us to do so. Remember when the Earth was young, 10 days ago, and we were still wondering about the Hillary Holdouts? If they haven't...(read more)

Oh, Bridget

Torie Bosch — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:15:00 GMT

From Nina Shen Rastogi, who is having technical difficulties: Until now, the McCain family has kept their youngest child, Bridget, out of the public spotlight—in part because she's young (but not younger than Bristol Palin, we might note) and in part...(read more)

Sarah-nade

Dahlia Lithwick — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 04:04:00 GMT

It was a great speech and she delivered it almost perfectly. She had one job to do tonight — persuade Americans that Barack Obama is a meringue, wrapped in a soufflé, served on imported bone china, and she did it well. And then she did it again. And again....(read more)

Cruel and Unusual

Maureen Sullivan — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:55:00 GMT

Wow, Palin is a pit bull with lipstick. Her speech was good with some killer lines — the one about "We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about you one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco" (or vice versa, I'm paraphrasing) will be hard...(read more)

Wow

Emily Yoffe — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:51:00 GMT

Before the speech we were talking about how we would be judging Sarah Palin on the rather simple task of speaking someone else's words. But she transcended that. She brought an X factor (an XX factor?) that announced someone formidable had arrived. It's...(read more)

Sarah Palin's Political Eros

Meghan O'Rourke — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:05:00 GMT

Sarah Palin loved being onstage, and people loved watching her love it. This was no Sarah, plain and tall. There was a palpable eros in the room at the RNC tonight, and not just when she made a subtle crack about the great "package" her union husband...(read more)

The Sarah Palin Show

Emily Bazelon — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:55:00 GMT

Why shouldn't a smart, gutsy hockey mom turned small-town mayor potentially run the United States? The McCain campaign has argued that attacks on Sarah Palin's lack of experience are sexism rather than legitimate inquiries; Palin took it one step further...(read more)

Veep Jumps Shark

Emily Yoffe — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 18:16:00 GMT

st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Yesterday the Internet was buzzing with the rumor that Palin was actually the grandmother of her 4-month-old baby, Trig. The allegation was that the baby was the child of her teenage daughter Bristol, and Palin faked a pregnancy...(read more)