Michelle Rhee for VP?

After an earlier look at the no-nonsense, budget-cutting ways of Sarah Palin, Michelle Rhee seems an appropriate follow. Here in Washington, few local personalities are as hotly followed as Rhee, chancellor of the city's public school system. She's young—33—but not afraid to shake up the establishment.

From a recent story at CNN.com:

Rhee closed 23 schools in her first year as the head of the District of Columbia's public schools, fired 36 principals and cut 15 percent—about 121 jobs—from the central office staff. And she's making no apologies.

"I think it's that sense of urgency that has been lacking for far too long in our public schools," Rhee told CNN as she began her second year on the job in late August.

Both Rhee and Palin have been willing to charge ahead in new management positions—fueling critics as they cut fat and aim to fix broken or corrupted systems. The attention that both women have received is a reminder of how rare this true maverick quality is among leaders. Do these types of managers generally defect to corporate America, or are corporations hotly in need of them as well?