I'd love to see Sarah Palin nominated by the Republicans for President. It would amount to handing the Presidency to the Democrats. But it won't happen.

Palin is using her moment in the media sun for its power to make her a bankable celebrity. That's her goal. She wants to ride it to permanent fame and a steady, large paycheck. And she's pretty close to that right now. In the past she has used her good looks, athletic ability and the hard work she put in both on the basketball court and in competing in beauty pageants to achieve the limelight she so badly craves. But her athletic ability has faded, her beauty is fading, and she has nothing left to build her celebrity on except the existing celebrity now.

McCain, however, handed her a great celebrity coup. She'll keep it as long as she keeps a PR-savvy individual writing her face book and she avoids high-profile interviews. Right now she is banking what money she can and building her celebrity reputation.

It's be much like what Giuliani and Gingrich have achieved. Both remain in the limelight and both continually get calls to appear on TV for their opinions. Both occasionally float rumors of their availability to run for President. Neither is going to.

That's my speculation, anyway. The only thing that might make me wrong is to find that she has some kind of core competency that I have overlooked. Her failure and debt-ridden resignation as Alaska governor strongly suggests that there is simply no "there" there.