We're heavy into the campaign season, so political views are bound to pop up even where you least expect them (and maybe don't desire them). But that doesn't mean they're not worth a few moments' contemplation. To wit: Brett Steenbarger, who writes insightfully about financial trading and psychology, poses the following question.
Do you have to be a manly man to win an election in America?
American likes manly men. They populate action movies; they make great sports heroes; and they are prominent on the best seller lists. They get things done, and they aren't troubled by doubts or nuances. If you've read those novels about Jack Reacher, Bob Lee Swagger, or Mitch Rapp, you know what manly is all about.

Steenbarger goes on to note that "you don't have to be a man to be manly." He cites Margaret Thatcher and Golda Meir (expanding the subject, obviously, beyond America). In this framework, does Sarah Palin's experience matter? "Of course not. But she hunts and she eats moose. Manly."
To read the full post, go here.