Hockey moms — who knew there was such a demographic? Of course the mothers of youth hockey players were always there, lurking in the shadows of our society, but who knew how quickly they’d stand up in the name of Alaskan populism? The Wall Street Journal has the story: Hockey moms are having their political “moment,” and they want to make damn sure you know about it:

All shared a moment of pride this week when Sarah Palin, the GOP’s nominee for vice president, presented herself to the country as a “hockey mom” in an attempt to focus on the moderate suburban women who are so critical in this election. She may not have much time to drive the car pool anymore, but after years of driving her oldest son, Track, to practice, Ms. Palin insists she is one of them.

“I see her as someone I can relate to and who understands what I am going through in my life,” said Ms. Rocha, who has three hockey-playing children. “And I am going out to buy one of those ‘Hockey Moms for Palin” bumper stickers.”

Naturally, this is merely a political ploy Palin is (very effectively) using to round out her image as a middle-class working mother. Does she really rush from gubernatorial events in Alaska to her kids’ hockey games? If so, that says more about the Alaskan governmental workload than about Palin’s abilities. There’s also more than a hint of forced populism here, too: “Hockey mom” is a verbal clue for “sports-loving” and “dedicated” and “normal,” things that can be twisted into resentment — you mean your kid takes violin lessons? elitists! — pretty easily.

The funniest thing is not that voters would be duped by such a clue. That happens all the time, on both sides of the aisle. The funny thing is that hockey is an incredibly expensive sport to play, and that most hockey-playing families make more than double the national household income:

According to USA Hockey, there are roughly 350,000 hockey players in the country under the age of 20. Their families have a median household income of nearly $100,000, roughly double the median income for the country at large, which is not surprising for a sport where families can easily spend $5,000- $10,000 per year, for team fees, equipment and travel costs.

But of course that doesn’t matter. What matters is that Sarah Palin is spunky, clever, and women can identify with her! Except women who disagree with every single one of Palin’s very conservative social policies, which is actually most women in the U.S. There might be a hidden surplus of politically-dormant hockey moms out there, but in the battle between youth sports and political partisanship, partisanship wins every time. Yay America!