Noted women's rights thinker Newt Gingrich appeared on CNN recently to announce that Sarah Palin is something of a feminist icon. Explaining her appeal, Gingrich seemed to suggest that women --aside from San Francisco liberals-- adore Palin and are drawn to her unique, can-do qualities.

Except that, of course, they're not.

According to the latest CBS News poll, Palin is weighed down by an astonishingly low favorable rating among women; just 21 percent. In fact, women give Palin the lowest marks of virtually any demographic group polled by CBS.

But other than that, Gingrich appears to be dead on in his “feminist” analysis.

UPDATED: From the same CNN report, Gingrich offered up this nugget:

Well, I mean, some people manage by ideas, by energy, by drive, by charisma. You know, Teddy Kennedy lost the presidential nomination to Jimmy Carter in 1980. And yet Teddy was, for 30 years, one of the dominant figures in the Democratic Party. And I think that she has the potential to fill a niche for a very long time.

Yep. Palin, the half-term governor from Alaska, is just like Ted Kennedy.