Palin Is Bubba's Mirror Image

At first blush, Sarah Palin—a “fitness-obsessed, policy-lite, skirt-wearing conservative” might not remind you of Bill Clinton—a “Big Mac-scarfing, policy-relishing, skirt-chasing Democrat”—but dig a little and the similarities are staggering, writes Eve Fairbanks in the New Republic. Both governors were forged “in the cramped and corrupt crucible of small-state politics,” and come with a trail of home-state enemies and an us-versus-them mentality.

Each even has a spouse who seems a part of the political team—Todd Palin is like “Hillary with a goatee.” The pair is united by the “total, complete hysteria they provoke in their critics”—Clinton and Palin so completely embody their respective sides of the culture war they drive opponents insane with rage and fear. Caution, Dems: When Republicans raged against Clinton, Clinton won. (More Bill Clinton stories.)