Morning precociousness from the NYT's eternal ingenue, Maureen Dowd: "Watching Gov. Sarah Palin’s strenuously folksy debate performance, we could wonder when elite became a bad thing in America."

It seems like only four days ago that Dowd was regaling us with the story of a youthful and city-bred Minnie Pearl, who'd had Paul Newman say to her: 'Let me take care of you *and* that cucumber'.