Her immediate focus is on raising her five kids, she says, but Palin proved that’s no insuperable obstacle to public service (even if one of those kids is, er, pregnant). Besides, time isn’t on LC’s side. Even though she’s young and has carved out a sweet media niche for herself over the last few months as a charming, mom-ish version of her dad, once he fades from the political scene, she necessarily will too unless she can build some independent national role for herself in the meantime. But where? A Virginia congressional seat is one possibility, but the state’s been trending blue and has youngish, popular Democrats at the top in Webb, Warner, and Kaine. She could take advantage of Dick’s Wyoming roots and try to carpetbag it out there in a safe red state, but Enzi and Barrasso are both in the way and not particularly old.

Or maybe, instead of running now, she could hitch her wagon to some other popular Republican as an advisor/spokesman and build her name recognition that way. Hmmmmmmm:

Do you agree with Peggy Noonan that Sarah Palin is bad for the Republican Party or do you agree with Pat Buchanan that she could be good at healing the party?

“I … have a lot of respect for Peggy Noonan but I think she’s been living in Manhattan for too long. So, I’d have to say on this one I’m with Pat. I think that, you know, Governor Palin is somebody who’s going to surprise a lot of people. I think that she’s going to be very interesting to watch in the coming months and years and somebody who really inspires the base of the Republican Party. And, you know, she’s been saying she’s going to be out there talking about limited government and low taxes and strong national defense and I think those are things that are going to have broad appeal even beyond the base of the party…”

So says a woman who’s spent most of her professional life in and around D.C. and Chicago. I’m sure she’s on the level with her ‘Cuda love, though: The page-one Times story on Palin this morning explicitly mentioned the two of them “bonding” over the demands of motherhood when they met. They’re a natural match — almost the same age, similarly adored by the base, and sharing an appetite for political red meat. E.g., listen to the audio of Liz’s interview with Scarborough this morning and you’ll hear her in fine Cheney fashion accuse the Democrats of being “uncomfortable” with killing jihadis. In fact, often when LC talks policy she sounds like what I thought Palin would sound like during the campaign before I, er, found out what Palin sounded like during the campaign. She’d make a great spokesperson for ‘Cuda ’12. If only she hadn’t worked on Romney’s campaign last year! Exit question: Will the Liz Cheney primary endorsement be a bellwether for the base in 2011?