You don't say

Lost among the wreckage of Sarah Palin's resignation, confusing basketball metaphors, "quitting is winning", and no less than five appearances gutting carp in hip waders, was the ex-Governor's suggestion that, amongst the many things she's freed up to do politically now she not tethered to the anchors known as "the Alaskan populace", she'd be willing to campaign for conservative Democrats. By actually doing rallies with them. No one really gave much thought to it, because frankly they were still laughing at all the "winners quit" stuff. But now some enterprising reporter remembered that she said and went around asking Democrats about it. They didn't seem thrilled.

Interviews with a number of the most conservative Democrats in the House and Senate induced an awkward, stare-at-your-shoes unease when the prospect of appearing with Palin was posed.

Some of the members lunged for elevators, others moved to get into meetings (or at least behind closed doors), and a few just chuckled nervously and replied in a clipped fashion that reflected an immense desire to not discuss the topic at any length.

What? They weren't thrilled about the idea of campaigning with some one who is not only deeply unpopular within their own party, but is also a toxic electoral poison to independents? I'm surprised. What the article is good for is all the ways conservative Democrats try to phrase their answers without saying "fuck no" or intimate that they'd rather be in an industrial acid accident and have to campaign as some sort of malformed nightmare creature. Or the lame excuses whereby they try to act confused to even the very notion of campaigning with someone. Taking great pains to point out (despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary) that they not only dance with themselves, but they campaign by themselves as well.

Oh well, so goes Sarah Palin's attempts to transcend all political borders. Still, she can use all the time she'll have now that she won't be campaigning for Democrats to come up with all new confusing sports metaphors and ways in which ducking your responsibilities is the highest calling anyone can aspire to.