I got to say that it seems to me that the same folks are still going down the same alleyways in this thread.

Sarah Palin has a very modest, but successful, political resume. She has had only some relatively small-time jobs with relatively small-time responsibilities. She is not seen, even by her supporters much less by her opposition, as having the background to qualify for the presidency. Running for president would be a huge reach for her.

She, however, is genuinely politically gifted. People on this thread who treat her as a joke must have missed the virtually complete reorganization of the Republican Party due to her constant pressure on "moderate Republicans."

She has made no effort to appeal to moderates and has reveled in her role as the bete noir of progressives. Progressives who hang out with other progressives can be excused for a time for thinking that a politician that is irrelevant to them is irrelevant in national politics.

For those folks, it is worthwhile reviewing what she is really doing.

She is a small-government, patriotic conservative. She is personally opinionated on dozens of social issues, but her political activities are all pretty focused. She supports smaller government and tax cuts. She supports patriots who show respect and support for the military.

Her current work is entirely directed toward the election of a few dozen high profile Republican state and national legislators and executives who will stick to her narrow focus.

She has used her celebrity pretty effectively. Look at the comments on Mudcat. She used to be presented as a joke and a fool. Her intelligence and ideas were mocked. Completely incoherent comments about her extremism were common. Now people are starting to sound impressed or afraid and people are beginning to be a little skeptical about whether this powerful woman got where she is by being outside the mainstream.

Folks, this politician is not for most Mudcatters. She stands in opposition to the directions that many of us think that the country should go. But don't let yourself believe that she isn't a serious player in our future. Her people are looking very likely to be running half of Congress and they know Sarah Palin is one of the people who put them in such a strong position.

She doesn't care. She doesn't need or want our support right now. She is working hard, with extraordinary success, to remake the Republicans. She is doing this by rebuilding the nature of Republican support at the household level.

Folks who want to oppose her better get active and oppose her people. She isn't running for anything, but she is easily the most powerful figure in the conservative opposition.

She loves to have her critics focus on her. That keeps her visibility high and means that the critics aren't focusing on her candidates and her message.

Our president is suffering serious damage in the polls. This isn't just circumstance. There are heavy-hitting speakers leading and channeling the opposition. The only one of these heavy-hitters who is doing political work within the electoral system is Sarah Palin.

Finally, if there was a political advisor who could do for a candidate what Sarah Palin has done for herself, he would be a legend. She has apparently done this almost completely on her own. We ought to start considering the possibility that she may be a genuine prodigy.

I'm tired of Sarah Palin jokes. She has moved way beyond that. So should we. Get serious in a hurry if you don't want to see the country headed the way she thinks it should go.