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Why the former half-term governor matters

<p>Our guest tonight for the interview will be Nicolle Wallace, a senior adviser to the McCain/Palin 2008 campaign, who saw firsthand just how woefully

Our guest tonight for the interview will be Nicolle Wallace, a senior adviser to the McCain/Palin 2008 campaign, who saw firsthand just how woefully unprepared the former half-term governor of Alaska was to seek national office.

If you've seen HBO's "Game Change," you know Wallace has an interesting perspective to share on Sarah Palin.

But as it turns out, President Obama's re-election campaign has also taken an interest in the candidate-turned-Fox News personality. In a new video released by the Obama team, viewers are reminded of comments Palin made on the air last week.

If you missed the clip, Palin's scathing criticism of the president was blisteringly stupid, even for her, with the argument that the president is "bringing us back ... to days before the Civil War."

Yes, Palin seriously expected Fox News viewers to believe the nation's first African-American president wants to roll back the clock 150 years, to the days when slavery was legal.

And while Palin (probably) won't be on the ballot in 2012, the Obama campaign is seizing on her comments to remind the Democratic base of the kind of ugliness and extremism the party is up against this election year. It relates directly to efforts to drum enthusiasm among Dems who may not be fully engaged just yet, implicitly arguing, "Don't let Palin and her ilk win."

I wouldn't be too surprised if Republican leaders and the Romney campaign ask Palin to take a much lower profile in the coming months. Whether Palin honors the request is another matter.