In an interview with The Onion’s A.V. Club, liberal blogger Ana Marie Cox, definitely no fan of former Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, told the story of Palin’s 2008 campaign rallies that Cox said should have been told back then:

I went to a fair number of Sarah Palin rallies during the campaign, and my friends would say, “Man, the pitchfork-wavers are really out there today.” I thought that, too, but then I started to talk to people, and they weren’t all angry. That’s just lazy.

The story that should’ve gotten written, that was really interesting to me, was how at every rally there were families with children with Down syndrome. They weren’t there to support Sarah Palin politically. They were really happy that there was someone in the national spotlight doing what they have to do every day. When you think about what it takes to take a child with Down syndrome to a political rally, I found that really moving.

Why didn’t Cox tell the story back then? Why didn’t her media colleagues? Lazy is part of the equation, as Cox admitted. But it was also more politically useful to promote the caricature of Palin fans as crazy, redneck racists than to portray them as loving, committed parents.