By Eric Jost

After months of speculation, it was finally revealed this week that Sarah Palin would be joining FOX News as a political commentator. Quickly following the announcement, Palin made her debut on The O’Reilly Factor Tuesday evening.

Palin’s move to the FOX News network is not particularly surprising. Despite her claims that the network is “fair and balanced,” it is the perfect vehicle for her to spout her puritanical views. In fact, if you watch the clip of her on O’Reilly, Bill reminds her that FOX News has higher ratings than any other cable news network (and treats her with the upmost respect, unlike nearly all of his other guests). But like the more progressive audience that tunes into The Daily Show or MSNBC, Palin will simply be preaching to the choir rather than new converts – regardless of audience size.

The fact that Palin has [temporarily?] moved on to broadcasting rather than reenter the political arena is interesting and a shrewd move. Recent polls show that although many Americans find her likeable, very few find her ready or smart enough to lead the country. And since Palin has reiterated her belief that her poor image is due in large part to “gotcha” journalism, serving as a network commentator should give her practice in crafting soundbites and keeping the public’s attention. Whether or not she chooses to run for president, or anything else for that matter, might very well depend on her ability to hold her own alongside FOX News’ more well-established conservative pundits.
But it is Palin’s continuous presence on the network that may very well undermine any and all of her future political aspirations.

Since re-grabbing the spotlight with the release of her memoir, Palin has kept her cards very close to her chest. Prior to the FOX News announcement, speculation of Palin’s next move was abundant. Some believed she was courting tea partiers in an effort to gain support for a 2012 presidential bid. Others thought she was hoping to become the white, conservative Oprah. And even after announcing her new career path, we still don’t know what her intentions are. But FOX News may be a better vehicle to launch the Sarah Palin the media-brand, rather than Sarah Palin the politician.

While on her book tour, Palin saw hundreds of supporters turn out at every one of her stops. The audiences were made up of primarily white females and their fervor for Palin knew no bounds. Then New Left Media decided to do some investigative reporting: how many of her supporters could actually explain Palin’s beliefs and political views? In short: Few, if any. The answers given by her supporters (or lack of answers, I should say) are probably not unique to Palinphiles – I’m sure more than a few Obama supporters would have been similarly stumped. However, how many of her followers would withdraw support if they knew she made rape victims in Alaska pay for their rape kits? Or that despite being the mother of a teenage mother, she still supports abstinence-only education? Or that she supports absolutely no rights or protections for same-sex couples?

Fortunately, Palin will have the opportunity to clarify and express all of these radical-right viewpoints on FOX News. And whereas she might see this role as another step towards the presidency, I see it as an opportunity for Palin to become Ann Coulter version 2.0 – someone so radically right and offensive that no one but the most hostile conservatives support her.

And with the hope that she will do nothing but fragment her supporters, I wish Sarah nothing but the best of luck.