Stay Away, Sarah Palin

Was Sarah Palin better off in Wasilla? According to The Hill, “Republicans facing tough elections in 2010 don’t want Sarah Palin campaigning with them.” Many of these Republicans come from districts that President Obama won, and they’re carefully putting some distance between themselves and the soon-to-be-former Alaska governor. “There’s others that I would have come in and campaign and most of them would be my colleagues in the House,” said Rep. Lee Terry of Nebraska. “I don’t generally need people from outside my district to do a fundraiser,” said Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia. Another anonymous representative from a vulnerable district tells The Hill that, if Palin visited him, his opponent would “probably be doing a dance of joy.” Peggy Noonan, meanwhile, uses her Wall Street Journal column to say good riddance to Palin. “She was out of her depth in a shallow pool,” Noonan writes. “She was limited in her ability to explain and defend her positions, and sometimes in knowing them. She couldn't say what she read because she didn't read anything. She was utterly unconcerned by all this and seemed in fact rather proud of it: It was evidence of her authenticity.”