The marathon to the White House is about to begin.

“But,” you say, “I’m still recovering from my midterm hangover.

John Boehner hasn’t even officially ascended to the House Speakership and the lame duck Congress hasn’t departed. It’s too soon. It’s too soon, dammit.”

So goes life in the 24-hour celebrity political culture.

The queen of political gossip stoked the fires of speculation in a pair of recent interviews. To ABC’s Barbara Walters and The New York Times Magazine’s Robert Draper, Sarah Palin made the shocking revelation that she’s weighing a run in 2012. And just like that, the race is on.

Never mind that Palin has proven time and again that she’s utterly unfit for the job. As John McCain’s running mate in 2008, she displayed a cavalier ignorance of major policy issues, leading top McCain strategist Steve Schmidt to remark, “She doesn’t know anything.”

She resigned as governor of Alaska midway through her term, presumably because she realized how much more lucrative it is to be a pop celebrity with no real responsibilities. And of course, she’s been playing coy with the national media since the dismal fate of McCain’s 2008 campaign, constantly encouraging the will-she-or-won’t-she-run gossip mill.

If Palin decides to run, Republicans will have a spectacular opportunity. The Democratic machine and most of the national press have spent the last two years pounding the GOP, with a fair degree of accuracy, for its reflexive obstruction of the Obama agenda and sore lack of philosophical gravitas. Palin has been the most visible symbol of this intellectual malaise. If Republicans reject her in favor of a more qualified candidate, they will demonstrate their own seriousness.

A number of crises plague this country, from two wars to exploding debt to a recession whose effects linger.

In Barack Obama, Democrats have a brilliant, charismatic proponent of the proposed progressive solution. To challenge him, Republicans should nominate an equally-talented upholder of the conservative tradition. Think of the debate that would ensue. America deserves no less.

Palin said to Walters, “I’m looking at the lay of the land now, and…trying to figure that out, if it’s a good thing for the country, for the discourse…if it’s a good thing.”

In these turbulent times, the best thing she could do for her country and her party would be to withdraw from public life. We need a leader, not a grandstander.  

Nathaniel French is a senior theater major. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].