QUOTED - AT 8:22 A.M. ET:  We don't do much self-hype here, except during subscription drives, but I think readers will be pleased to learn that I'm quoted (twice) in Larry Sabato's new book, "The Year of Obama," which is an excellent report on how Barack Obama won the White House.  The quotes come from a piece I did at Power Line called "Tina Fey, Kingmaker."  The piece is here.  The quotes, which deal with the impact of show business on the 2008 campaign, are as follows:

The most decisive moment in Hollywood's attempt to influence the election was Oprah Winfrey's introduction of Barack Obama on her daytime television show.  This simply had never happened before...But Oprah not only introduced Obama, she vouched for him, she gave him what Joan Crawford once called "the big okay," her seal of approval.  Almost instantly, Winfrey transformed Obama from an ambitious young politician into a cultural star.  He suddenly rocketed beyond politics.  He bacame larger than all that.  And there he remained, all through the campaign, and up to election day, a man who was as much culture as candidate.

And...

Tina Fey never "did" Sarah Palin.  She took certain traits of Palin's, even traits Palin was simply assumed to have, then exaggerated them.  Because Palin wasn't that well known, Fey had close to a blank slate, a rare advantage in the world of impressionists.  And because her impression was entertaining and funny, it drew us in.  But the impression ridiculed Palin, and went far to define her in the public mind as someone not quite up to the job, a political airhead.  It wasn't the only factor, of course, but it played an important role in sending Palin from her starring role at the Republican convention, crashing down to her later image as someone grasping for respect.

Delighted to be quoted in a Larry Sabato book.

May 5, 2009