Sarah Palin, political genius

Former Mayor Willie Brown poses for a portrait at his apartment in the St. Regis Hotel on Thursday July 31, 2008 in San Francisco, Calif. Former Mayor Willie Brown poses for a portrait at his apartment in the St. Regis Hotel on Thursday July 31, 2008 in San Francisco, Calif. Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chronicle Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Sarah Palin, political genius 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The pundits are wrong. Conventional wisdom is wrong. Sarah Palin's decision to step down as Alaska governor was a brilliant move.

Palin has some of the best political instincts I have ever seen. She became a pop-culture superstar overnight when John McCain made her his veep pick, and she's still second only to President Obama among politicians the public is interested in. Even in liberal San Francisco, she'd be front-page news if she ever came to town.

But that kind of celebrity comes at a high price. What a lot of people don't know is that Palin entered Alaska politics as a reformer attacking the corruption of the state's Republican establishment. As such, she was the darling of the Democrats - until she hooked up with McCain.

After the election, with Palin back home but positioning herself for a 2012 presidential run, it was clear she would catch nothing but ridicule from Alaska's Democrats. It was not going to be pretty.

If Palin wants to play on the national field, she has to be free to move around. She has to be able to drop into Indiana, Ohio or Tennessee and help Republican candidates raise money. She has to be available for radio and TV.

She has to be like Gavin Newsom, free to roam around the country, safe in the knowledge that things will pretty much take care of themselves back home.

Instead, Palin faced the prospect of being constantly pinned down in a state that is a day and a half away from the rest of America. She would have been totally isolated in every sense of the word.

Now she can study up on issues where she is lacking and become a full-time political celebrity.

The pundits call her a quitter, but let's be honest - the pundits never liked her to begin with. Better to take one hit for stepping down and move on than to stay in Alaska and die a death by a thousand cuts.

Governor or not, Palin is still the biggest star in the Republican galaxy. After all, who else have they got?

It's interesting - after decades of politicians preaching about family values, we actually have a president who practices them.

President Obama's decision to take his kids along with him to Russia and Italy completely stole the show. Nobody takes their kids on diplomatic missions. And it is so engaging and so authentic that you almost forgive him for not having the stimulus package working!

It was wall-to-wall people the other day at the Fillmore Street Fair. Everyone was lined up to buy hats from Ms. Ruth Dewson. They were out the door.

I took a look at what was taking so long for everyone to pay. It turns out Ms. Dewson has one of those old-timey registers - her bra.

And she was doing one heck of a business stuffing the money in. In the time I was there she went from a 38 to a 44.

Have you checked out the local music scene lately?

Down at the Burlingame Grill they have a different act every night. I went there to see Bud E. Luv, who was his usual great self.

Up in North Beach at Joey and Eddie's - which used to be Moose's - they have a Rat Pack tribute to Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. that had everyone dancing.

We should really be more like Havana, where every club has free music early in the week.

It would help fill up the town on slow nights, and maybe lead to some gigs for all these talented people on the weekends.

I hopped in a cab to go to KPIX for the morning show the other day, and all the way there the cabdriver had the radio tuned to classical music.

I needed to know if anything was breaking, so I asked, "Do you ever put on the news?"

"No," he said. "Why ruin a good day?"

Hope I haven't ruined yours.