In a recent interview with NBC’s The Today Show, Alaska governor and secondhand loser of the 2008 US presidential election Sarah Palin suggested that the recent slaughtering of her party’s ticket had very little to do with her own questionable inclusion on it. Indeed, she is one of the most highly criticized vice presidential candidates since, well, ever, but in her own articulation, “The economic collapse had a heckuva lot more to do with the campaign’s collapse than me personally … I did not know that it would be as brutal a ride as it turned out to be.”

We were inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt in exchange for her rapid disappearance from the national political spotlight, but gosh golly, it seems as though that’s just not gonna happen. Here’s a spot of good news: even though it’s likely that John McCain’s Backwoods Betty of a running mate is probably the most unlikely choice for the GOP’s next presidential candidate, she’s already looking forward to giving it a shot—get it? Like an elk?—in 2012.

Palin, known amongst the liberal media as a right wing fundamentalist lipstick-wearing bulldog, has suggested she will discuss her involvement in her party’s next presidential election at the Republican Governors Association meeting this week in Miami. It seems at this point that her chances of actually becoming the GOP frontrunner in 2012 are about as good as the First Dude ever living down his nickname, but with Mitt Romney and Charlie Crist gunning for the ticket, it’s anybody’s guess as to what Palin’s political future looks like. I’m sure I’m not alone in hoping she still has all those futuristic Jean-Luc Picard pantsuits in her closet when she does eventually earn another run at it in 2020! Am I right?

- By Christopher Reinhard