(Newser)
–
Politics is due for a shake-up of the kind the Internet gave to music and newspapers—and Sarah Palin looks like the only politician ready to deliver, Greg Beato writes in Reason. Palin's resignation makes her a true maverick, Beato writes. Just like Paris Hilton realized you don't need to act to be a Hollywood star, Palin has realized you don't need to hold office to be a politician, he notes.
Palin "embodies the Internet’s insurgent, user-oriented spirit" more than any other national politician, Beato argues. She's now free to capitalize on her appeal—and on ordinary Americans' desire for a Drudge-like upstart to transform politics—instead of being stuck governing Alaska for another 18 months, he adds. Pundits like Maureen Dowd may not get why Palin's resignation was such a stroke of genius, Beato writes, "but surely Paris Hilton understands."
