Someone has. Her name is Sarah Palin. She is on a perpetual campaign for an office she will never hold. More than that, it’s an office she would never want to hold.

It’s a surprising idea, just as flying planes into the World Trade Center was a surprising idea. It’s so simple and obvious that only simple decency prevented people from thinking of it years earlier.

At some point in the next year, she’s going to start to flirt with the media. We’ll see “Will she run?” headlines over and over again. She’ll make some moves that suggest a run for presidency, like quitting some job somewhere. She’ll demure when asked straight out if she’s running. The media, especially the conservative media that sells guns and adult diapers to her audience, will eat it up.

She’ll go on a bus tour and play the charade out as long as strategically possible, but she’ll step out before the primaries, before the visible appearance of loss. She’ll take herself out before she can be taken out by the polls. She’ll say it’s not the right time for her. She’ll tease her base and then blow them a kiss.

Quite simply, she doesn’t want to be president.

Well, that’s not quite true. I’m sure she would love to be president, to have that power and prestige. But she doesn’t want to work at being president. She doesn’t want to fight with the press, with congress, with foreign leaders—all of whom are much smarter than she is.

What she wants (and is willing to settle for) is fame and wealth. She wants to be a political/media celebrity. She has the looks for it and she has the twangy, homespun appeal. She can give powerful speeches, written by others, to adoring crowds. She can show up on talk shows, throw jabs at real politicians, sell books (written by others) and keep cashing in. She never has to take a question from a hostile reporter or participate in a debate. She only needs to build her brand.