Religious Conservatives Certain Palin Will Stay in National Politics

By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country

What do religious conservatives know about Sarah Palin that everyone else doesn't?

While most political folks are wondering aloud about the outgoing Alaska governor's next move—and while Palin herself admits she's foggy about future plans—conservative Christian activists are expressing confidence that she'll stay in national politics.

"We have not seen the last of Sarah Palin," Janice Shaw Crouse of the Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee wrote in an E-mail statement today. "She is not the kind of person who gives in to bullies, but she is the kind of mother who protects her children—something that those who hate her don't seem to understand."

"She found a way to thrive in local and statewide politics in Alaska," Crouse continued. "She will find a way to come back to national politics, and she'll be a formidable force when she does."

Here's what Gary Bauer said over the weekend:

"Reports of Sarah Palin's political death are highly exaggerated and reflect more the biases of the prophets, soothsayers and media talking heads than it does the political reality . . . . It is totally premature to interpret Sarah Palin's announcement as a withdraw from American politics . . . ."

It's one thing to express hope that Palin sticks around on the national political scene. It's another to express certainty that she will. What gives?

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