PERKY, JINGOISTIC CHARLES KURAULT FOR PRESIDENT?

As you know, I still think Sarah Palin wants to run for president; I think she sees her Fox News gig as an opportunity for welcome media exposure and as a source of easy money while her campaign ramps up. But I'm wondering about the nature of what Fox will have her doing, and how it will affect her shot at the GOP nomination (which is as far as I think she can get).

We've been told that she'll "host periodic episodes of FNC's 'Real American Stories.'" Real American Stories (Web site here) is basically Charles Kurault on star-spangled steroids; here's the thesis of sorts:



Here's Glenn Beck doing what I suppose Palin will do -- he's reading a Teleprompter introduction to a warm-fuzzy story about how an American couple's adopted child from Russia is better off being an American, dammit:



Reading a pre-scripted 35-word introduction? Yeah, I think Palin could handle that.

On the otyher hand, I don't think she's going to, say, pose questions to a Cuban refugee turned cheesecake model/singer/pinup/USO entertainer -- I think conducting an interview might be beyond her. But we'll see:



Some segments on Real American Stories seem to be just apolitical Americana (there's a clip on air guitar contests here). But for the most part it's Americana with a significant dose of noodge-y pro-America hectoring.

I can't tell what this will do to Palin's image. She obviously wants to be an ideological sniper, targeting evil liberals and Democrats with tweets and Facebook posts. Will introducing these warm-oatmeal segments soften her image a bit, and for GOP voters, is that good or bad? Will it make her seem, to the Fox viewers she needs for the nomination, like someone whose area is the less substantial stuff? Or will it fit perfectly with her thesis, that knowledge and command of detail aren't what a president needs, because it's much more important to have absorbed simple stitched-on-a-sampler ideas about America as the embodiment of freedom?

Can't tell. We'll see.