The core of Palin's politics and increasingly the core of the Republican party, as she put it last night:

"I think, kind of tougher to, um, put our arms around, but allowing America's spirit to rise again by not being afraid to kind of go back to some of our roots as a God fearing nation where we're not afraid to say, especially in times of potential trouble in the future here, where we're not afraid to say, you know, we don't have all the answers as fallible men and women so it would be wise of us to start seeking some divine intervention again in this country, so that we can be safe and secure and prosperous again. To have people involved in government who aren't afraid to go that route, not so afraid of the political correctness that you know -- they have to be afraid of what the media said about them if they were to proclaim their alliance on our creator."

If the context, meaning and implications of this sort of conservatism still befuddle you, if you still think of yourself as a conservative but do not fathom how a former beauty queen sportscaster is now most likely the future of the GOP, please read my prediction and analysis of this development in "The Conservative Soul: Fundamentalism, Freedom and the Future Of The Right."

I know this is a shameless plug, but the money will all go to Harper Collins, not me. And I wrote that book not for the money, but for the message. But I do not believe you can understand contemporary conservatism as a political entity. It is a religious entity. And until more Americans understand its true nature, they will keep getting surprised by the virulence of its message and the power of its momentum.

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