Much as I hate to say it, Palin looks beautiful here in this picture, taken yesterday in Ohio. She’s moved her hair forward a good 20 years (and successfully dealt with her beauty-pageant image) by lopping off those dreadful wispy things that got in her way so badly during the debate. (Note to all women over 30: Making a small change can get you out of a style rut, and if you haven’t made any changes to your hair in three years, yes, you are in a rut.)

The brown suit is scarily militaristic to me, though. (Even though — redheads take note — the warm light brown color couldn’t be better on her.) In fact, the belt is reminiscent of 1930s military uniforms. To be honest, my first thought was of Nazi uniforms, but in fact Palin’s more closely resembles the American one.

(The one on top is the Nazi jacket, the one below is American, part of a "jump set.")

What I was looking for was the belt, and the American one comes closer. Can anyone better identify the sartorial ancestor of Palin’s jacket?

I find the brown jacket in combination with Palin’s outstretched hand wave and her secessionist and right-wing beliefs to be scary. What if the economy continues its downward spiral and American voters decide that Wall Street (and what’s that code for, anyway?) is to blame? Are they really going to decide that Obama is the solution, or will they retreat into safety (read: whiteness) and vote McCain instead?

Everyone is saying this election’s Obama’s to lose, but I still say the larger context is too chaotic and uncertain to know that for sure. It won’t be over till the morning of November 5 (but, please God, it will be over then, at least).