I know, I know: "PLEASE stop diarying about this person. PLEASE make her go away."
But consider the upside (for Democrats) to such an ill-fated gambit on Palin's part. And consider this a hint that she's possibly preparing to announce. It's about that season: you'll remember that Clinton and Obama each announced in Dec/Jan about 23 months before the 2008 election.
New York Times upcoming weekend magazine has a large piece on "The Palin Network" - and it contains this interesting bit:
"I am," Sarah Palin told me the next day when I asked her if she was already weighing a run for president. "I’m engaged in the internal deliberations candidly, and having that discussion with my family, because my family is the most important consideration here." Palin went on to say that there weren’t meaningful differences in policy among the field of G.O.P. hopefuls "but that in fact there’s more to the presidency than that" and that her decision would involve evaluating whether she could bring unique qualities to the table.
Good Lord. More below.