This Is going To Be A Lot Of Fun

This comes courtesy of The Mudflats, an Alaskan blog. (h/t Steve Benen at the Washington Monthly)

Check out this exchange between Sean Hannity (keynote speaker at the RPV convention two weeks ago!) and Sarah Palin, failed VP candidate, possibly a future presidential candidate and almost certain surrogate for Bob McDonnell:

Hannity: …The price of oil is going up again. It’s not quite at $140 a barrel, but it’s on its way up to $70 and $80…

Palin: Yeah, well and I thank God it’s not at $140. You know people say, “Hey, Alaska! 85% of your state budget is based on the price of a barrel of oil. Aren’t you glad the price is going up?” I say, “No!” The fewer dollars that the state of Alaska government has, the fewer dollars we spend. And that’s good for our families and for the private sector.

Steve Benen explains it:

The problem, of course, is that Palin doesn't understand why she opposes government spending. In general, the Republican line is that it's important to limit spending so to keep taxes low and prevent deficits. But that doesn't apply to Alaska at all -- it already has exceedingly low tax rates and no budget deficit at all.

The governor, in other words, wants Alaska to have less money, just for the sake of having less money.

Benen is too kind. the fact is Sarah Palin is charismatic. She has a great schtick. She obviously has some political talents. But she is not too bright. That will not work for her in Virginia.

It is virtually certain that Palin, a bona fide star in the GOP with Presidential aspirations, will be here to campaign for McDonnell. And when she does, the GOP faithful will sing her praises. Young Republican males will swoon. Young Republican women will swoon.

Progressives will be watching, too, but because we will want to see how long it takes for her to say something crazy-ass stupid. If it takes longer than 10 minutes, I'll be surprised.