Bad news for Huck, good news for Palin

I was in Barnes & Noble today when I got a pleasant surprise.

I was looking at the table of newly released trade paperbacks when I saw Sarah PalinSarah PalinSarah Palin's smiling face. I was surprised to see that Palin's book was already in paperback when I looked more closely.

It wasn't "Going Rogue."

It was "Going Rouge," the satire written by two senior editors at The Nation as a counterweight to Palin's book.

Despite all the controversy about the books, it has actually been a very good week for CaribouCaribou Barbie. Mike HuckabeeMike HuckabeeMike Huckabee, her probable No. 1 opponent for the 2012 Republican nomination, suffered a potentially fatal blow because of some decisions made while he was governor.

When you're a member of the Law and Order party, you can't let guys out of prison who then kill four police officers. Folks may not remember this, but when the GOP lambasted Mike Dukakis for furloughing Willie Horton in 1988, Horton didn't even kill anyone.

Huckabee is toast.

And so, I think, is Mitt RomneyMitt RomneyMitt Romney. I absolutely loved the video the Palin people did about Romney -- "There's a Bore in the Woods." And while that probably isn't enough to have much effect on 2012, Romney is never going to be a favorite of the GOP base.

That's where Palin is strong. In fact, I don't think there's one position in which her views aren't completely in sync with the base.

That's why for all the talk about Newt GingrichNewt GingrichNewt Gingrich, TimTim Pawlenty, Piyush Jindal or Glenn Beck, I believe Palin will be the nominee in 2012 if she wants it.

Mostly because a hundred times as many people will read "Going Rogue" as "Going Rouge."

I just won't be one of them.