The recent attacks on Sarah Palin by establishment conservatives make her Democratic opponents seem like wusses. The prospect of a Palin presidential candidacy in 2012 has obviously spooked the GOP elite. But do they have to be so mean? 
 
 "What man or mouse with a fully functioning human brain and a resume as thin as Palin's would flirt with a presidential run?" MSNBC "Morning Joe" host and former Florida Republican representative Joe Scarborough fumed in a Politico guest column this week. 
 
 " 'A-LASK-ahhhh - I love this state like I love my family.' Except that [Palin] didn't give her family up after governing for two-and-a half years, so that she could get a Fox News contract, and make 100 grand per speech, and write two books in a year, and drag her entire family onto a tacky reality show." That from the conservative Weekly Standard's Matt Labash last week. 
 
 "After the 2008 campaign, [Palin] had two things she had to do. She had to go home to Alaska and study, and she had to govern Alaska well. Instead, she quit halfway through her first term and shows up in the audience of 'Dancing with the Stars' and other distinctly non-presidential venues," sneered my Post colleague George F. Will on "ABC This Week with Christiane Amanpour" on Sunday. 
 
 Things have reached the point where Foxnews.com contributor John Lott asked in a column, "Why Does the Media Love to Pick on Palin?" 
 
 Well, it's not all the media, and the hardest hits are coming from conservatives. They are questioning her judgment, and some think she's, well, low on smarts. 
 
 In defending Ronald Reagan against a Palin putdown of the former president as "an actor," Peggy Noonan wrote in the Wall Street Journal: "The point is not 'He was a great man and you are a nincompoop,' though that is true." 
 
 Take that, Saint Sarah of Wasilla. 
 
 But are the attacks fair? 
 
 I am no fan of Sarah Palin, but not because of her slips of the tongue or gaffes. Palin is a gifted politician. She's gained prominence and political clout, however, by skillfully playing to popular prejudices with wild claims. "Death panels" come to mind. In her political behavior, Palin flirts with demagoguery. That makes her no laughing matter. 
 
 But does that account for the harsh treatment she's receiving at the hands of the conservative establishment? Those same conservatives don't seem bothered by her extremism when it's directed toward President Obama and the Democrats. 
 
 Their opposition to Palin smacks of something else. Call it what it is: elitism. 
 
 Palin, on the cusp of a possible presidential run, now finds herself facing a solid wall of conservatives who believe that, by virtue of their intellect, experience and such distinctive attributes as cultural tastes and social standing, they are her superiors. 
 
 They refuse to take her seriously and believe she shouldn't take herself seriously, either. 
 
 That opposition, by the way, is insulting, not only to Palin but to her supporters as well. 
 
 Palin is no accidental celebrity. Her star power didn't flame out after 2008. She has since earned her place in the sun. In the past two years, she has developed a following that far outnumbers the supporters of those conservative elites who now shun her. 
 
 Her 2010 campaigning helped strengthen the Republican Party's grip on Capitol Hill. Sure, some of her midterm endorsements flopped. But Palin-supported candidates won more contests than they lost. And don't forget, many of the 59 million Americans voting for the McCain-Palin ticket in 2008 did so because of her. 
 
 Ah, but let's "hope she'll stay there" in Alaska, as former first lady Barbara Bush suggested recently. Or make Palin a talk-show host or "the new Oprah," as the National Review's Mona Charen wrote. 
 
 Anything but a bid for the presidency. 
 
 I wouldn't want to see Sarah Palin anywhere near the White House, let alone in the Oval Office with a nuclear arsenal at her disposal. That's not a likely scenario anyway, given her low standing among independents and Democrats. 
 
 But the notion of a phalanx of conservative elites - Palin called them "blue bloods" - standing between her and the GOP nomination because they perceive her as inferior in intellect and social and political standing is pure snobbery. 
 
 At bottom, their real slander is against Palin and her slice of the American electorate, captured in H.L. Mencken's caustic observation: "As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." 
 
 So mean. 
 
 kingc@washpost.com ||||| —Charlie Crist, an independent beating Marco Rubio, throwing a wrench in the Tea Party and extreme right winners of the night. I think what will be more interesting than his likely win is how exactly the Republican purists and the rest of Washington will treat him. It is a lonely place for independents in Washington and groupthink rules the roost, sentiment seems to be particularly harsh against former Republicans. Just ask Jesse Ventura or Joe Lieberman. 
 
 —I am one of the few of the mind-set that Christine O’Donnell could actually pull this thing off. Followed by last week’s sexist “one night stand” story and the overwhelming media fascination (or horror depending on which way you look at it), I think people could come out in surprising numbers and actually elect this woman. A perverse side of me would like to see how she actually plays out as senator. But the logical side of me is more scared of the idea of a woman elected senator that is unfamiliar with the First Amendment... 
 
 —Alaska is fascinating because it will either confirm or deny Sarah Palin’s reign as kingmaker. If I were putting money down on it in Vegas, my bet would be with Lisa Murkowski with the write-in win. If she does win, look for Sarah Palin to blame all media and, more than likely, a memorable concession speech from Joe Miller. 
 
 It’s obvious that [Obama’s] administration still thinks he is just a rock star and can somehow get by continuing to act as such. 
 
 —In the tight and hugely expensive California race, I predict a win for the former CEO of eBay. I actually see Meg Whitman as one of the next great Republican leaders. Her wealth and small campaign gaffes have strayed from the focus of this woman’s success, but I see her winning tomorrow and then becoming a strong and effective national leader. 
 
 Meghan McCain is a columnist for The Daily Beast. Originally from Phoenix, she graduated from Columbia University in 2007. She is a New York Times bestselling children's author, previously wrote for Newsweek magazine, and created the Web site mccainblogette.com. Her new book, Dirty Sexy Politics, was published in August. 
 
 Like The Daily Beast on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates all day long. 
 
 For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.
– Sarah Palin thinks the GOP establishment is out to get her, and it sure feels like the knives are out. There's Rove, of course, and then Bush (or at least a source claiming to speak for him), and now two former presidential speechwriters, Michael Gerson and Peggy Noonan, the latter of whom busts out the word "nincompoop" to describe her: Gerson: She's "increasingly tolerant of disturbing extremism" and doesn't seem to care about the consequences for the GOP. Her endorsement of Tom Tancredo "raises the question of whether Palin has any standards for her support other than anti-government rhetoric," he writes in the Washington Post. "Either as a power broker or a candidate in the 2012 election, Palin's increasingly erratic political judgment should raise Republican concerns." Noonan: In a Wall Street Journal column devoted mostly to bashing Obama—he's a "human depression" that Democrats would be wise to abandon, she argues—Noonan rips Palin for dissing Reagan (for whom she wrote speeches) as an "actor." She rises to his defense: "The point is not 'He was a great man and you are a nincompoop,' though that is true." Reagan "brought his fully mature, fully seasoned self into politics with him," she writes. He had accomplished great things before becoming president. His "career is a guide, not only for the tea party but for all in politics."