As Michele Bachmann fades, is there an opportunity for Sarah Palin to jump in?

At the top of Google's News this morning was a story about Michele Bachmann's fade since her Iowa Ames Straw Poll victory. It's said that the "Republican political class" is concerned about Michele Bachmann's electability. Even Bachmann's campaign manager, Ed Rollins, said, “The Perry-Romney race is now the story, with us the third candidate.”

In a recent nationwide Fox News poll, registered voters were asked whether any of the Republicans were "too extreme to be seriously considered." The poll found:

Among all voters, Bachmann tops the list at 18 percent, followed by Perry at 14 percent, Palin at 12 percent and Paul at 10 percent. Four percent think Romney is too extreme. Responses were volunteered by respondents; a list was not read. About a third of voters (35 percent) said none were too extreme and 22 percent were unsure.

Among Republicans, Paul is seen as too extreme by 14 percent, Bachmann by 11 percent, Palin by 9 percent and Newt Gingrich by 6 percent. Five percent of Republicans think Perry is too extreme and 3 percent say the same about Romney. Some 38 percent of Republicans say none of their party’s announced or potential candidates is too extreme, and another 26 percent have no opinion.

For the key voting bloc of independents, Bachmann (19 percent), Perry (17 percent) and Palin (14 percent) are the Republican contenders most frequently mentioned as being too extreme to be seriously considered. Five percent of independents consider Romney too extreme.

With the poll's margin of error at three percentage points, a cluster of candidates "too extreme to be seriously considered" exists. They are Bachmann, Perry and Palin. At some point, the "Republican political class" will have to consider whether Perry can be elected. More than likely, Palin has already been dismissed by them, and Saturday, in Indianola, she joined the quasi-secessionists by citing the Tenth Amendment as an argument against the federal government. That amendment, however, is not the only part of the constitution, and if they weren't ignorant of constitutional history they would know that the federal government has grown, not because the tenth prohibits its growth but because the Commerce Clause exists, and its interpretation has enabled the growth of the federal government.

It's still early and a Republican nominee hasn't yet been chosen, but if any of those "too extreme to be considered" are the nominee, then it's likely that a democrat will be elected, because an even larger percentage of voters will consider that candidate to be too extreme, if the Democratic party can successfully convey that candidate's dangerous extremism. Each of those candidates would attempt to turn-back the clock and destroy the Social Compact that has existed since the Great Depression. We're certain to have a debate about the economy during the campaign, but if a know-nothing is the Republican nominee, that debate's outcome could have far-reaching consequences.

Will Sarah Palin jump in as Michele Bachmann fades? Possibly, but with Rick Perry, a kindred spirit, running why would she? Because the field is incomplete without a woman?

"Searching for Bachmann" was the story at the top of Google's news. Wikipedia has an introduction to the Tenth Amendment, which considers that amendment's interplay with the Commerce Clause.

I take "political class" -- chattering class? classless chatterers? -- to mean, concerning presidential politics, those actively interested in the candidates and races before the nominees are chosen. The definition is in flux, now that a celebritician is running for attention, if not office; many discussing Palin have no interest in politics. Anyway, most people don't pay attention until after the nominees are chosen.

The Commerce Clause was cited when the constitutionality of much of the New Deal's legislation was upheld.