MORE SARAH SHREWDNESS – AT 7:05 P.M. ET:  We reported this morning on Sarah Palin's rise in American politics, and how even some crusty commentators have started to notice. 

That doesn't mean Sarah is free of her baggage.  She is not.  She has a distance to travel.  But she a savvy lady, as demonstrated by her gutsy comment today to the tea party movement, reported by The Politico:

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin urged tea party activists on Tuesday night to “start picking a party.”

In remarks to a fundraising dinner for the Arkansas Republican Party reported by CBS News, Palin praised the anti-tax tea party activists for their independence, but urged the “grand movement” to start thinking about joining one of the two political parties.

“Now the smart thing will be for independents who are such a part of this tea party movement to, I guess, kind of start picking a party,” she said.

Palin suggested the grass-roots activists consider “Which party reflects how that smaller, smarter government steps to be taken? Which party will best fit you?”

“And then because the tea party movement is not a party, and we have a two-party system, they’re going to have to pick a party and run one or the other: ‘R’ or ‘D,’” she said.

COMMENT:  Smart move.  Palin understands that we have a two-party system, and that her future lies, not with a movement, but with a party.  She also understands that her followers in the tea party movement can only help her cause if they get within the Republican tent.  She further understands that tea partiers who get swelled heads, and try to run third-party candidates in some states, can only hurt the overall cause.

Palin has a great gift – she knows how to build loyalty, a following.  Now she is guiding that following to work in ways that are most effective.

Criticize her in any way you wish, but no one else does this quite as well.

February 17, 2010