Free Republic

The Republican establishment can't stand her. The media mocks her. But Sarah Palin isn't going anywhere. Far from it. After laying low for much of this year, Palin is gingerly stepping back into the public arena with a national book tour, a trip to the always-important political state of Iowa, and an eye on making yet another series of splashy endorsements in a variety of competitive Republican primaries. Five years after rocketing from Alaska obscurity to worldwide fame, Palin wants to be a political player in 2014. Which begs the question: Does she still matter?

This is the fifteenth in a series of conversations with former Congressman and conservative stalwart Duncan Hunter. He has agreed to these sessions as one way to keep his message of Reaganesque foreign policy and constitutional domestic policy on the front burner for the American people and his Republican colleagues. Hunter is currently spending much time and personal capital positioning a group of conservative candidates to take back congressional seats from liberal Democrats. With any luck, Mr. Hunter will choose to run for the presidency come 2012. But for right now, the 2010 midterm election is his mission. The interview...