Palin Unchained

With a huge audience and (despite the first polls) a pundit consensus that she rehabilitated herself in the debate, Sarah Palin is losing no time in trying to advance her career.

She's on Fox (and will be on nowhere else this weekend, apparently) saying how she was "annoyed" by Katie Couric, and how she disagrees with the McCain campaign decision to leave Michigan.

Meanwhile, the McCain campaign is busily trying to correct some of her errors on McCain's actual positions, such as on bankruptcy. And analysts are trying to figure out what she meant (if anything) about expanding powers of the vice-presidency.

Journalists digging into her statements have already found that she lied about her support as Governor of Alaska for divesting investments in the Sudan over Darfur--her administration killed that measure in Alaska.

Meanwhile, with the classic Friday afternoon document dump, her tax records were released and reporters are going over them. But perhaps the biggest event happened just before the debate, when a judge in Alaska refused the petition by Republicans to stop the investigation into Troopergate, which I hope they start calling Palingate.

Palin is acting as though she won the debate last night, but most tellingly, she is acting as she has at times in the past like the presidential candidate, the head of the ticket. This is classic overreach, political hubris, and it's going to be her downfall.

Even after the debate, majorities in the polls believe she is not qualified for even the VP. She's a George Bush persona with Dick Cheney ambitions. Barring the Alaska Supreme Court overturning the lower court decision, the next time she makes news may well be when the Palingate report comes out, no later than Oct. 16. And unfortunately for her and her boosters, the only person debating two more times for her side is John McCain.

And by the way, the idea that Palin quashed further TV satire is already history: a debate sketch is planned for Saturday Night Live this weekend.