WWTD

by digby

I don’t use the old saw “imagine if this were a Democrat” anymore because it’s implicit in just about everything the Republicans do these days. But this is really too much. We heard constant hand wringing from the press during the primaries about the horrors of having Bill Clinton anywhere near the White house should the harpy Clinton win the election. Or Obama, with Clinton as his VP, for that matter. People have been rending their garments for months over the possibility that a successful ex-president might be hanging around the white house giving advice. (Of course, when Bush ran, the implicit — if unfulfilled — promise that Poppy would be around gave the same people confidence that the callow, unqualified Junior would have sage guidance.) Even Rudy Giuliani was soundly spanked for suggesting that his wife might sit in on cabinet meetings.

But here we have the underqualified Governor of Alaska empowering her even more undqualified husband, whose main claim to fame in life is being a snow machine racer, to be an intrinsic part of her executive team:

In voting to issue a subpoena to Todd Palin in an investigation of the firing of the Alaska public safety commissioner, state lawmakers on Friday signaled that Mr. Palin, the husband of Gov. Sarah Palin, might have played a central role in one of the most contentious episodes of her governorship.

While that suggestion goes beyond the image presented of Mr. Palin during the Republican convention as a blue-collar family man and sportsman, it echoes a widely held understanding among lawmakers, state employees and lobbyists about Mr. Palin’s heavy engagement in state government.

In the small circle of advisers close to the governor, these people say, Mr. Palin is among the closest, and he plays an unpaid but central role in many aspects of the administration of Ms. Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president.

Mr. Palin’s involvement in the governor’s office has prompted an irreverent quip by some capital staff members when decisions are to be made that might affect the governor: “What would Todd do?”

It goes on to outline many instances of Palin’s involvement or attendance at meetings, usually sitting quietly in a corner saying little … like Dick Cheney.

If Todd Palin played a large role in Palin’s administration people have a right to hear from him about it. Hillary’s professional life was a major concern in the 1992 election and Michelle Obama’s speeches have been parsed almost as closely as her husband’s. It would be one thing if he was uninvolved in his wife’s business, like Howard Dean’s wife was. But any spouse who is involved in his or her spouse’s administration simply has to submit himself to questioning.

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