If Sarah Palin were running for president, her poll numbers, Bachmann-like, would be in the toilet right now. But I do think she has enough clout with teabaggers to influence the race. Which is why I'm hoping these rumors are true:

While Palin has characteristically kept her cards close to her chest, advisers suggest that the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee is likely to endorse before someone emerges as the inevitable nominee — and that Newt Gingrich appears to be best-positioned to secure her support.

"They speak very favorably of Newt and what they see as his credentials as compared to Perry and Romney," one member of Palin's inner circle said of the former Alaska governor and her husband, Todd, who has long served as her unofficial chief adviser...."Newt Gingrich again, I think, did the best because he seems to be above a lot of the bickering that goes on," Palin said on Fox News after a Republican debate in Las Vegas last month, adding that Gingrich would “clobber” President Obama in a general election debate.

God, I hope she does this, and soon. Framing Gingrich as the teabagger candidate would just be too delicious. The rebranding has already begun in the conservative press.