Read more: Boston Herald

[password]On the day Mitt Romney announced he is running for president, Sarah Palin rolled into Boston, leaving many pundits wondering whether Sarah came to upstage Mitt.

Perhaps. But I doubt it’s because of any presidential ambitions of her own.

Oh, she’s certainly ambitious! Just not in the way that most people think — or most Democrats hope.

Palin is the Republican that Democrats most love to hate, and they are licking their chops at the prospect of a Palin presidential run.

In 2008, the promise of Barack Obama energized the nation and propelled him to victory. But with a stalled economy and a lackluster presidency, Obama’s star has faded. Many independent voters — critical to Obama’s electoral success in ’08 — now suffer “buyer’s remorse.” And liberal Democrats are angry with him for his Guantanamo flip-flop, tax-cut compromise and seemingly endless wars.

Only Palin can save the Democrats from themselves. For, although she energizes certain elements of the Republican Party, Palin positively enflames (read: motivates) liberal Democrats and makes independents uncomfortable enough that they would be willing to hold their noses and vote for this failed president.

Imagine how Democratic coffers would swell if Sarah would only run! And with Tina Fey’s dead-ringer Palin impersonations, the Dems wouldn’t have to spend a dime on negative campaign ads.

For Democrats, a Palin candidacy would be manna from heaven. Is it any wonder that the liberal media hang on her every word like star-struck school kids?

Of course, the only thing more pathetic than the media’s obsession with Palin is the Palin family’s obsession with the media.

See leather-clad, Harley-riding Sarah examining people’s tattoos at a recent motorcycle rally; read Sarah’s inexhaustible tweets on everything from international relations to “Dancing with the Stars”; watch Sarah and reality TV star Kate Gosselin camping in the Alaskan wild.

If keeping up with Mama Grizzly’s media antics isn’t exhausting enough, you can follow the escapades of daughter Bristol in the pages of Us Weekly. Bristol was a dentist’s office assistant when she was tempted by the glamour of Hollywood to compete on “Dancing With the Stars.” (And, BTW, who ever decided that being the child of a famous politician makes someone a star?)

Blissfully unaware that the media’s interest in her is based on a ruthless desire to turn her mother into a laughingstock, Bristol has now signed on to do another, as yet unnamed, reality television series. The unwed mother last year earned $250,000 giving abstinence speeches — seriously, folks, you can’t make this stuff up — much of which has, apparently, been spent on plastic surgery.

The Palin family’s bizarre attraction to the spotlight is not just some craven desire for attention (although it is certainly that). It is part of what columnist Mitch Albom calls the “Kim Kardashian economy” — where you can strike it rich simply by prostituting yourself to the media. In our voyeuristic culture, so long as you are willing to bare all, tell all or make a public spectacle of yourself, you no longer have to “do anything, make anything, or have any talent.”

The media and the Palin family are locked in a symbiotic relationship — where speculation about a presidential run enhances the Palin brand and increases television ratings and supermarket tabloid sales. Hence, the “One Nation” bus tour and the accompanying media frenzy.

There was a time I’d have been excited about a Palin presidential run. No longer. If it comes down to a choice between Sarah and Mitt: I’ll take the one whose kids are less likely to show up on the next season of “Survivor.”

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