AUSTIN, Texas — It must be time to get out the Tyrolean britches because it's hiking season for the Republican Party.
First, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford took a hike in the mountains — with his boots off, so to speak.
Now Sarah Palin really surprised me by taking a hike from her job as governor of Alaska — in the middle of her first term. She had 18 months to go.
Palin a quitter? Who would'a thunk it. Sure, she took her share of abuse. But I thought she was the kind of gutsy woman who could make Kim Jong Il ill.
Quitting isn't something you want out of your governor. OK, so Texas Gov. Rick Perry might be the exception. But there ain't no quit in Rick Perry. He's been governor here since about 1910. 'Course, his hair has been governor since 1905.
There's been a lot of speculation about why Palin gave up her job. My theory is that she has a book deal. And she won't have time to run Alaska and write a book.
Maybe Palin is quitting her job because she's an outdoorsy gal, and she wants her own fishing show. There ain't that many women who clean up that good who can bait their own hook.
How about "Let's Go Whalin' With Sarah Palin." Or, perhaps she wants a guest appearance on "Deadliest Catch," the TV reality show about crabbing. Seems like an obvious fit, since Palin's always crabbing about somebody.
Like David Letterman. A few weeks ago, Letterman told a dirty joke about one of Palin's daughters. If you want a fresh basket of hell with a side order of slap-me-upside-the-head, make fun of somebody's child. Even I know that much.
I was at a taping of a Letterman show in New York a few weeks ago, on a day after Letterman had apologized for his joke and after Palin had accepted his apology.
Still, in a city of 8 million or so, about 50 people showed up across the street from the Ed Sullivan Theater to protest Letterman. Even worse, it was a one-sign protest. That's right. These folks were holding a protest, and they only had one lousy sign that said Letterman had gone over the line.
Now there's an indication of a down economy — the Republicans can afford only one sign.
Guess which was the only network with a news truck out there to cover the protest? Fox. If there had been 100 people out there, maybe they would have parked two news trucks on the scene.
But the incident shows one thing: Palin has a following. And let's face it — it's hard to start a real big parade if you're the grand marshal in Ketchikan.
So expect to see a lot of red lipstick and hear "golly gee" a lot for the next three years. We thought Nixon was dead. Wrong. Neither is Palin. She's just warmin' up.
Hey, at least Tina Fey's happy, right?
John Kelso writes for the Austin American-Statesman. E-mail: jkelso(at)statesman.com.