Air America host Rachel Maddow, who's subbed for Keith Olbermann on Countdown a few times lately, is probably going to get a show on MSNBC soon. Phil Griffin (who you may or may not remember as being an awesome hippie) who just became the president of the network, loves her, and after reading today's Times story about her, we kind of love her too. (With apologies to Chris Matthews whose job she's probably going to get. Our love is fickle — what can we say?) Below, six reasons why Rachel Maddow is our new girl crush.

1. She once had a job that feels like one we would have had: "Less than a decade ago she was working odd jobs in western Massachusetts, including one at a Northampton coffee-bean factory where she cleaned out buckets."

2. In another job, she wore "an inflatable calculator costume at a local Ford dealer." (That feels like a job we would have had, too.)

3. Also, she has a bachelor's degree from Stanford and a doctorate from Oxford, which she attended on a Rhodes scholarship. She wrote her dissertation on AIDS in prisons. (Here is where we stop relating and start admiring.)

4. She is openly gay, but: “I will not dance the way Ellen does.”

5. She says "Duh" in an interview with the New York Times. Speaking about how Fox asked her to comment on Madonna kissing Britney Spears at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, she said: “They thought I had expertise, maybe,” she said. “I said no, duh.”

6. Despite being a total liberal, she's not one of those annoying Obama people. “I am not a fan of either candidate.”

Okay, we still don't want to kiss her or anything. But still: Swoon.

Now in Living Rooms, the Host Apparent [NYT]

Related: Phil Griffin Is Filled With Flowers, Light