Sarah Palin's Accent: What Does It Mean?

According to this article on Slate, it means she's from Wasilla, and that's about it. Or at least, that's it from an objective standpoint. Subjectively, it could mean a lot, as people react very differently to different accents, as I noted in passing a couple of days ago. That's why, as the Slate piece noted, Palin seems to be making an effort to speak a more "neutral" brand of English these days. We'll pay careful attention to this, and more importantly to the content of her speech, during tonight's debate.