Radley Balko and Bob Shrum

It is interesting to compare two very different columns on Palin / McCain, one from Radley Balko at Reason and one from political operator (and former debate coach!) Bob Shrum:

Radley's column is here.

Shrum's column is here.

I want to make two points. First, it is amazing how much more thoughtful, and how free of lightly veiled sexim and culture war cant, the Balko column is compared to the Shrum column. Second, given that, how is it that Shrum is the media bigshot while Balko labors in (relative) obscurity at Reason?

And is condescending elitism really the best way for the dems to sway marginal voters? Every column like this one makes McCain look more and more clever in his choice of running mate. She seems to have the same effect on lefties that Bill Clinton had on righties, sending them into spasms of unreflective upset and distracting them from their larger goals.