She still has a year to decide

The AP is reporting that Gov. Sarah Palin has received another invitation to appear at a lower 48 event. This one will be an oil conference in Bismark in May of 2010.

North Dakota's Industrial Commission, which supervises oil and gas regulation in the state, voted to invite Palin to the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference scheduled for May 2-4 of next year.

Since this event is oil-related, it gives Gov. Palin a good excuse to be there to represent energy-rich Alaska. Also, North Dakota's Republican governor John Hoeven sits on the three-member commission. I'm not sure how well he knows Gov. Palin, but they are both members of the Republican Governors Association and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC), as they are both governors of energy-producing states.

Hoeven, who proudly displays photos of the two governors together on his Facebook page, has spoken glowingly of his Alaskan colleague:

"She is smart, articulate. She has a very thoughtful approach. She thinks things through and determines how she's going to deal with an issue, and then she deals with it very straightforwardly," Hoeven said. "She hunts. She fishes. She knows energy issues. She's got a son in the military. She brings a very broad perspective that both men and women will relate to."

North Dakota, while not quite next door to Alaska, is at least in closer proximity to the 49th State than most of the other lower 48. So I wouldn't be at all surprised if they are good friends. All of this bodes well for a Palin appearance at the conference.

The AP, in it's own characteristically clueless way, ended its story with the standard line:

A spokesman for Palin could not be reached Tuesday to comment on whether the governor would accept the invitation.

Poor AP hasn't yet learned that Sarah Palin is not given to rush into anything without giving it careful thought first. She certainly isn't going to RSVP to an invitation before the ink on it has had a chance to dry. And besides, she has the better part of a year to make her decision.

- JP

h/t: Free Republic