JOE McGINNISS

Much attention is being paid to Sarah’s comment to Van Susteren last night that she has “fire in her belly.”  Video and transcript of her appearance here.

But to me the most revealing moment was when she said, “The darts and the arrows keep flying…it’s going to keep on coming and, you know, I feel like I have a prayer shield in front of me that deflects a lot of that..” [emphasis added]

No doubt the shield was manufactured by her Prayer Warriors, working overtime in the attic of the Palin home on Lake Lucille.

It’s hard for rational people to appreciate the extent to which Sarah is in the grip of religious delusion. I honestly believe that Sarah thinks God has armed her with both sword and shield and has sent her forth to do battle with the infidels. The Anchorage Daily News was on to more than its reporters and editors realized when they called Sarah “The Joan of Arc of Alaskan politics” in 2006.

Look again at her remarkable words to “Focus on the Family” founder James Dobson toward the end of the 2008 campaign:

As I write in THE ROGUE :

Dobson told her that not only was he praying for her but that he’d just hosted a gathering of more then four hundred “prayer warriors” and that, “We were sure asking for God’s intervention,” in the campaign.

“Well, it is that intercession that is so needed,” Sarh said. “And I can feel it, too, Dr. Dobson. I can feel the power of prayer and that strength that is provided through our prayer warriors across this nation…We hear along the rope lines that people are interceding for us and praying for us. It’s our reminder to do the same, to seek His perfect will for this nation, and to of course seek His wisdom and guidance in putting this nation back on the right track…I have to have faith that our message will get out there minus the filter of the mainstream media…I have to have that faith that God’s going to help us get that message out there.”

Unfortunately, the Big Guy in the Sky fell asleep at the switch on election day. But Sarah’s had his ear plenty since then and she’s not going to let him make the same mistake twice.

UPDATE:

See Chris Cillizza in “The Fix” in Washington Post:

In a field without much star power, a Palin candidacy would immediately suck the media oxygen out of the room for the other contenders.  Put simply: Palin is the only potential candidate in the field who could go to Iowa tomorrow and have 5,000 people show up.