So the news 'round these parts lately is all about this Sarah Palin - the governor of Alaska that John McCain picked to be his VP running mate the other day.

Lots has been written on the subject over the last few days, but here are two genius articles from The New York Times I just had to share.

The first is Gail Collin's "McCain's Baked Alaska" from Saturday. Money quote:

However, I do feel kind of ticked off at the assumptions that the Republicans seem to be making about female voters. It’s a tad reminiscent of the Dan Quayle selection, when the first George Bush’s advisers decided they could close the gender gap with a cute running mate.

The idea that women are going to race off to vote for any candidate with the same internal plumbing is both offensive and historically wrong. When the sexes have parted company in modern elections, it’s generally been because women are more likely to be Democrats, and more concerned about protecting the social safety net. “The gender gap traditionally has been determined by party preference, not by the gender of the candidate,” said Ruth Mandel of the Eagleton Institute of Politics.

The second is Frank Rich's "Obama Outwits the Bloviators", also from Saturday:

The main reason McCain knuckled under to the religious right by picking Palin is that he actually believes there’s a large army of embittered Hillary loyalists who will vote for a hard-line conservative simply because she’s a woman. That’s what happens when you listen to the TV news echo chamber. Not only is the whole premise ludicrous, but it is every bit as sexist as the crude joke McCain notoriously told about Janet Reno, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton.

These two share my point - most former Hillary supporters aren't likely to vote for an anti-abortion, religious right candidate just because of her gender. Nevermind the fact that she has two years of experience, I mean, not counting the mayorial thing.

And just how large is Wasilla, anyway? I've read 9000, 7000, 6715, 5470, 8471 ... are there that many people on the move out there in Alaksa? That seems like it should be the easiest part of these Palin stories, the bare facts, but so far it has the least consistency article-to-article.