[BluesDuke]

The problem is that the RNC does not operate that way, and Sarah Palin is NOT going to move all the way from Wasilla, Alaska just to submit herself to the whims of the Beltway RINO establishment, which serves as the RNC's Board of Directors.

Why not? From what I've seen, a) the way the RNC is operating isn't exactly doing the GOP any big favours these days (and there's been rumbling enough about trying to nudge Mr. Steele out of the chair); and, most important, b) the lady isn't exactly averse to ambling on down from Wasilla, Alaska to slay dragons otherwise. She just might like a challenge like that. And she'd have an awful lot of rank and file to back her up on it, wouldn't she?

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

a) Power in the RNC is NOT centralized as it is in the DNC. The RNC is run like a corporation, with the chair serving as CEO, and the beltway GOP poo-bahs serving as a Board of Directors. Hence, the RNC chair does NOT have the same level of power as his or her counterpart in the DNC, and the collective Board can effectively veto any changes that an incoming chairwoman such as Palin would try to implement. She would find herself locked in a cage again, as she was as governor in Alaska.

b)There's a big difference in making weekly trips to various venues in the US and moving to Washington, DC full time ro run the RNC. A single flight from Anchorage to NY or DC takes at least 8-10 hours each way, with Seattle the half-way point.