Diva or not, Palin did change her corner of political landscape

BOSTON — Have you ever seen a transformation this fast? In barely two months, the Barracuda became the Scapegoat. Think of it as evolution on steroids.

In September, Sarah Palin, the little-known governor of Alaska, was hailed as the great female hope of the Republican Party. Double the maverick, double the fun. John McCain called her "the most marvelous running mate in the history of this nation." Pro-life conservatives were "ecstatic," and she was a "hottie" to boot.

But after a handful of disastrous interviews, after polls showing she was a drag on the ticket, and after, of course, losing the election, McCain staffers began dropping little poison pellets all over the media. Palin was a "diva." She was a Wasilla hillbilly "looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast." She was a "wacko" who couldn't tell the French president from a Canadian radio prankster.

Did they actually think that Palin would go quietly into that good Arctic night? How you gonna keep her down on the tundra after she's seen herself on teevee?

Palin has always shown more moxie than substance. What she lacks in syntax, she makes up in self-confidence. Now Sarah Unbound is everywhere, serving the media moose chili and spin from her Anchorage crockpot. She's busily defending herself and her future: "If there's an open door ... then I'll plow through that door."

Well, a little door-check please. While all eyes were focused on Palin and the "Sarah-centric" (her words) crowds that turned out for her rallies, there was a quieter "women's story" in this race that may make the doorway a little narrow.

Nationally, Obama won the election with a bare majority of men: 49 percent to 48 percent. But he won with a landslide of votes from women: 56-43. Eight million more women than men voted for him.

In some of the battleground states, women made all or nearly all the difference. In New Hampshire, men split their votes pretty evenly, but women chose Obama nearly 2-to-1. In North Carolina, men picked McCain 56-43 and women picked Obama 55-44.

One step further down the ballot, the story was repeated. New Hampshire women also chose Democrat Jeanne Shaheen over Republican John Sununu for the Senate by 23 points. And North Carolina women, even when faced with a choice between two female candidates for the Senate, voted for Democrat Kay Hagan over Republican incumbent Elizabeth Dole by 14 points.