Musings of this paper's editor - The Bakersfield Voice

I was just listening to the news, and in a special report (more like an entertainment report), I learned that Sarah Palin merchandise is being manufactured (and selling!) at unbelievable rates! I think the news is curious--in that by all reports, this country is supposed to be experiencing tough times (or so we keep hearing), and yet buttons, mugs, shirts, undies (yes! undies!), signs, stickers, sweatshirts, and even a Sarah Palin $1 bill (for $10) are flying off shelves.

Matter of fact, have you tried to eat out at a sit-down restaurant lately? No matter the side of town you try (Outback, PF Chang's, BJ's, or Tahoe Joe's), there's always a long wait. Very curious spending habits for a country falling on such hard times. IMO.

I don't know... seems like a curious study in human nature Here's the article I found about the Palin mania:

Bev Flaherty, of St. Paul, holds up buttons for sale at her son’s store in the Xcel Energy Center. (Photo: Jae C. Hong/Associated Press)

ST. PAUL — “Palin Power” may represent conservative principles and women’s ascension, but it could just as well mean purchasing power. After Gov. Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech last night, merchandise with her name or likeness is super hot.

The auction site eBay offers Palin pins, pouches and paperweights, magnets and mugs, caricatures and clocks, window decals and license plates, T-shirts and iron-ons. Rosie the Riveter revisits, and pink bumper stickers scream, “It’s a Girl!”

A 1982 Wasilla High School yearbook is going for $150. An autographed pass to a Republican National Convention event starts at $49.99.

Real estate in cyberspace costs a little more. A handful of Palin-related domain names are being sold on eBay, with starting prices that range from $500 (for PalinRSS.com) to $7,000 (for SarahPalin.me).

Opportunistic sellers are ascribing Palin endorsements to ordinary items. A yellow Sprint back pack is being billed as a “Sarah Palin VP back pack” (”look good while traveling”), and a legend knife appears under the capitalized headline “SARAH PALIN COUNTRY!!”

The demand for Palin merchandise underscores the velocity of her ascent. Marketers are scrambling to catch up to the woman whom Mr. McCain introduced one week ago.

Amazon.com is “temporarily out of stock” of the only Palin biography, “Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska’s Political Establishment Upside Down.” Only 7,000 copies were printed this spring, and the publisher is now rushing a paperback edition.

Still, the Alaska governor has pulled off a remarkable coup, snagging a higher Amazon sales rank than the Democratic memoir writer she scorned last night. The Palin biography now sits at No. 13, while Senator Barack Obama’s “The Audacity of Hope” is No. 26.

Governor Palin costume masks are not available just now, but they will be in a few weeks, said Jim Berg, co-owner of Twin Cities Magic & Costume Co. in downtown St. Paul.

“It’ll be a popular choice for Halloween,” Mr. Berg said.

He predicted some costumes will incorporate baby dolls and pillow pregnancies, while others will lean on hunting props, “everything from a weapon to dragging a bear over your shoulder.”