Megan McArdle, at the Atlantic (not exactly a bastion of conservativism), writes an article that is an interesting juxtaposition to Mallick’s diatribe. (My response to its beginning.)

Let’s be honest, coastal folks: when you meet someone with a thick southern accent who likes NASCAR and attends a bible church, do you think, “hey, maybe this is a cool person”? And when you encounter someone who went to Eastern Iowa State, do you accord them the same respect you give your friends from Williams?

She goes on to discuss how they react in their prejudice.

Red America exaggerates the contempt, of course.

She must not have read Mallick. There’s no way to exaggerate that. And that’s not the only media response that is clearly lambasting Palin.

For one thing, in both DC and New York I’ve spent a fair amount of time listening to liberals make jokes about red states that would horrify them if they were told about blacks. But even if that weren’t true, I wouldn’t be the best person to assess whether there is prejudice or not. I’m so close to it that I can’t see it.

She knows it, at least. It’s a beginning.