Via Andrew Sullivan I see that Jay Nordlinger has found a new Republican to fawn over in Sarah Palin. This is new territory for Nordlinger, who is ususally going faint over all of the macho he-men in the GOP. I first became aware of Nordlinger in 2001 when he penned an egregious article in National Review fawning over Don Rumsfeld as a dreamy hunk.

A couple of years later he gushed over Republican studs in the American Enterprise:

Again, the Democrats will have to acquire a bit more testosterone if they’re to compete with the GOP. This is, indeed, no time for “pitty-patty.” As for the Republicans, if they had any more testosterone, they’d be The Incredible Hulk. House Speaker Denny Hastert was a wrestling coach, for crying out loud. That’s almost overkill!

So for him to go limp over a girl Republican is new, but the man sure can gush:

She is leaderly. That’s not quite a word, but I have employed it often. (It ought to be a word.) Governor Palin is strong, assured, natural — and leaderly. I’m not sure she is less presidential — to say nothing of vice-presidential — than any of the other three on the national tickets.

Like many Americans, she says “Eye-rack” and “Eye-ran” (for two neighboring countries in the Middle East). Some people mock this, but it is very American. And — speaking of mockery — she also says “nuke-u-lar”: like George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter (who was a nuclear engineer), and Eisenhower.

When she said she was “commander of Alaska’s National Guard,” I somehow sat up straighter!

Thanks for Sharing, Jay.

P.S. I wrote about Nordlinger in a piece for TAC a few years back.