Last night, on the Mark Levin show, Sarah Palin made official what almost everybody believed was already the case: she will not be the Republican nominee in 2012. In her letter to supporters, Palin wrote: “I believe that at this time I can be more effective in a decisive role to help elect other true public servants to office – from the nation’s governors to congressional seats and the Presidency.” This is a mature and true insight on Palin’s part. She is a tremendous political talent and brings a much-needed voice and energy to the Republican Party. But, as she proved by resigning as governor of Alaska, governing is just not where her talents are best used.

So where are populist Tea Party-sympathizing conservatives supposed to go? The current Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney is a banker-turned politician, who is the spitting image of the Republican establishment. The Republican office holders with the best chance of appealing to populists, Harley-riding Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Medicare-reforming House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, and straight-talking New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have all declined to run. The Republican office holders who have entered the race, including former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and Rep. Michele Bachmann, R.-Minn., have, for varying reasons, failed to capture conservative populist imagination at any enduring level.