Positive commentary on the heartland, from an elite(ist?) NYT columnist

Roger Cohen's column today is headlined, "Presley, Palin and the Heartland." Don't miss it!

The Presley in the headline is Raeanne Presley, 50, Republican mayor of Branson, Missouri, population 6,050. No relation to Elvis, but part of the Presley family who've entertained folks in the Ozarks -- and beyond-- for many years. As Cohen describes it, Branson is "to country-western, country-first, evangelical culture what Haight-Ashbury once was to the hippie movement: its mother lode."

Here's a short excerpt of Cohen's column.

I never imagined that a Republican mayor from Bible-belt Missouri would revive my faith in American democracy, but Raeanne Presley did just that.

As a high-energy brunette running a small town, she’s been ribbed since Sarah Palin became her party’s nominee for vice president. “Guess you’ll be moving on to governor soon,” she gets told. “And up from there.”

But Presley’s not interested. She’s Midwestern practical to Palin’s rabble-rousing frontierswoman. Common sense interests her more than aw-shucks nonsense. She prefers balanced budgets to unbalanced attacks.

Read the rest here and see how Cohen redeems himself, among hillbillies, for last week mocking Palin's accent -- and by extension the accents (and tastes) of so many others in the heartland.