This is what happened to Tom Eagleton shortly before he dropped out, right? Insatiable demand among his own party’s rank and file for stops in their districts to boost congressional turnout?

Ten days after the pick, she’s the most popular Republican in America. (Except, maybe, for errrr … Colin Powell.)

One Republican source called it a “huge and immediate” response and attributed it to Palin’s role in helping close the enthusiasm gap between the GOP and Democrats.

“There’s a lot of requests being made,” the source said. “But there’s only 58 days until the election, and they’ll be heavily campaigning. The details will have to be worked out…

Congressional campaigns contacted by The Hill were nearly unanimous in saying they would love for Palin to visit their districts. Many had already requested her presence, and most of the rest said they would do so soon…

[Rep. Tom] Feeney said the “last Republican to enter the national stage with such impressive force was Ronald Reagan in 1964, with his ‘A Time for Choosing’ speech on behalf of Barry Goldwater.”…

President Bush’s and Vice President Cheney’s low approval ratings make them risky campaign trail guests, and McCain hasn’t always motivated the base of the party, even if Republicans appear to be coming off a successful convention.

The current going rate for a seat at the head table and a photo with our heroine: $50,000. A spokesman for one congressional candidate in Maryland says he’ll settle for Todd Palin if they can’t net the ‘Cuda. Exit question: Let’s say, hypothetically, my crazy pessimism proves well founded and Maverick loses narrowly in November. What does Palin do in the aftermath? Barring any major screw-ups before the election, she’ll be the biggest star in the party — bright enough that it’s hard to imagine her going back to Alaska and lying low for three years until the 2012 primaries. It’s too late to run for Stevens’s Senate seat, though, and there’s no reason to think Lisa Murkowski will want to step aside when her term’s up in 2010. Palin’s profile will stay reasonably high thanks to energy issues, but aside from that she’ll be in media Siberia, with the DNC doing whatever it can to help Alaska Dems hassle her to derail her before she can run for president four years from now. Or am I missing something? They’re not going to take our ‘Cuda away from us, are they?