Small town values

Some of you may be wondering why so much dirt on Sarah Palin has come out so quickly. John Kelso of the Austin-American Statesman answers that question in an amusing piece called The small-town values Palin didn't mention.

I grew up in a small town; every word of that article is true. One of the defining features of small town life is that gossip travels quickly and everyone knows everyone else's business. They especially know the business of their politicians. In a way this makes the McCain campaign's minimal vetting of Palin even more surprising; it seems they could have greatly expanded their knowledge of her with half an hour in a local diner. Of course, that also might have blown the surprise — small town residents also know who isn't from around there, and it doesn't take them long to figure out what's up.