Writing on the Hand: Palin vs Feinstein

The flap over the notes on Sarah Palin's hand recalls a similar dustup during a statewide political debate in California involving Dianne Feinstein. I was a panelist on the debate, and she clearly had something written on her palm, in a clearly visible violation of debate rules which required the candidates to speak without notes. When I asked her about it after the debate, she quickly hid her hand behind her back and left the room. A few days later, her campaign put out a press release saying that Feinstein's palm contained the key words of her campaign, something like, "choice, economy, education." The Republicans had a field day, and put out a press release comparing Feinstein to Bart Simpson. Like Feinstein, Palin appears to have written some of the key themes of her speech on her palm. No doubt the anti-Palin crowd will paint this as another example of the former Alaska governor being too dim-witted to hold a national office, but Feinstein survived her handwriting-gate, eventually winning a seat in the US Senate.
I'll be writing more about Palin in an upcoming column for Newsmax magazine. Stay tuned for details and links.