So this is my point. How do you know that she is "unintelegent or uninformed" (I copied and pasted that verbatim) without a preconceived notion of how she would be?
I think people on both sides of the aisle tried to paint Mrs. Palin as some sort of "hick or hillbilly" because she:
1. Was devoutly religious
2. Took her husbands last name (How could any self respecting, professional woman do that?)
3. Was from Alaska
4. Stated clearly what McCain could not state while campaigning - I am pro-life, pro-Second ammendment, We need to drill, etc. (she didn't leave any gray areas)
It's not a new game. It is done all the time in politics. The right tried to paint Bill Clinton into being worse than he was the whole time he was running and in office. You take a statement or an account, blow it out of proportion and keep hammering. It works with those who are already on your side and Viola! The person is an idiot or whatever.