Some nice reporting from Shushannah Walshe:

If Palin has made any final, official decision to run, she’s kept it from her inner circle of advisers; no doubt she’s mulling her next move with her closest confidant, her husband Todd. But lately, alongside the personal tweets that have been a primary means of communicating with the outside world in recent months, Team Palin has begun issuing press releases. The smoke signals indicate her staff has begun working in earnest on a White House run.

“No one has been told directly, but staffers are working under the assumption that she’s running," says one former aide who has knowledge of the inner workings of the PAC, who requested anonymity talking about his ex-boss’ plans. "It has become very apparent to everyone on her staff that she is preparing to run for president. The staff is now working. They are writing speeches, preparing talking points, picking congressmen to endorse all under the umbrella of what you would do two years out before running for president and that’s their understanding. It’s a 2012 ball game, and they should plan on that basis.”

Powerline's Paul Mirengoff calls her the front runner. David Frum agrees. So do I.

The Obama administration thinks this is good news, because Palin is supposedly "unelectable." But here's the thing: nobody is "unelectable." It all depends on conditions and events, mainly the state of the economy. To be sure, Palin is almost certainly less electable than many other Republicans, and it would take very bad economic conditions for her to win. But we may have very bad economic conditions.