Sarah IS serious, Salena

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review columnist Salena Zito has a Sunday opinion piece that left us scratching our heads after we read it. Don't get us wrong. Ms. Zito has been more than fair to Sarah Palin in a number of her columns. And in this, her latest, it's just the title and a single paragraph that lead us to wonder if the writer is keeping up with the Palin news. This column certainly starts off on the right foot:

First of all, Palin will not leave the Republican Party.

"As independent-minded and anti-establishment as she is," says Villanova University political science professor Lara Brown, "she seems to understand well one of my favorite quotes from political scientist John Aldrich from Duke University: 'The standard line that anyone can grow up to be president may be true, but it is true only if one grows up to be a major party nominee.'"

Palin is positioning herself to become the Republican presidential nominee, and getting involved in NY-23 was merely the first step. Her book and her "Oprah" interview later this month are her next major steps.

And we certainly have no disagreement with Ms. Zito and Professor Brown when they acknowledge that all politics is local, and Governor Palin's support of Doug Hoffman in New York's 23rd Congressional District helped the Republican running with the backing of the Conservative Party more than it hurt him.

It's not until the second-from-last paragraph of the column that we found a Whiskey Tango Foxtrot moment in Ms. Zito's op-ed:

"If Palin wants to be considered a credible presidential hopeful for 2012, she needs to do more than release a book and go on 'Oprah.' She needs to weigh in on serious issues -- such as energy, the size of government, federal taxing and spending -- and to support candidates in 2010 who promote those issues."

But Salena -- if we may call you Salena, as you called former Governor Palin "Sarah" in your title -- Sarah Palin is serious. She has been weighing in on the very issues you cite in a number of op-eds on her Facebook Notes page. She has also addressed these issues in opinion pieces for the Wall Street Journal, National Review and even from the hostile pages of The Washinton Post.

Moreover, Sarah Palin didn't come lately to weighing in on these issues. She has been doing so for months. And it's not only from the Web that the 2008 GOP presidential candidate has been voicing her opinion. In recent speeches to a right to life group in Wisconsin and an investors forum in Hong Kong, Sarah Palin has opined on the size of government, health care, energy security and cap and trade. And she certainly has endorsed conservative candidates, with Bob McDonnell, Chris cCristie and Douglas Hoffman being three of her endorsements which come to mind.

Salena, you must have heard about former Gov. Palin's presence on the Web, her speeches both at home and abroad, as well as her several endorsements for the special election that was held last Tuesday. It was in the news.

- JP