Jonathan Chait's comparison ("A Barbour nomination would be the rough equivalent of the Democrats' nominating Howard Dean, if Dean also happened to be a draft-dodging transsexual owner of a vegan food co-op") is both funny and cruel, but it is not wholly inaccurate.
Several Republican operatives in Iowa, where voters will have the first say on nominating the 2016 presidential candidates at the state caucuses in a year's time, were doubtful on Monday that Palin would enter the race.
Appearing at an all-day political beauty contest in front of voters whose caucuses will be the election's first nominating process next January, big-name Republicans from statehouses and congress explained why they had the vision and public appeal required for nationwide victory.
While Clinton has already had more than 40 staffers on the ground since April in the state, which holds the first nominating contest in the Democratic primary, O'Malley has locked down one of Iowa's top Democratic operatives.
Oh, and I'd like to get the ball rolling by nominating my Pillar of Society: Helena Button, who was an inspiring primary school teacher.
Nicola Sturgeon was also widely praised, although perhaps it was the lack of SNP leaders in this part of west London that held some back from nominating her as the victor.
Under the proposed reforms the election process would look like this, says the BBC: A primary vote will take place where the 1,200 members of the largely pro-Beijing nominating committee will get one vote each.
These candidates will then be put to a second round of voting by members of the nominating committee.
For anyone unaware of how it works, someone gives a short speech to camera about the charity, then dumps a bucket of ice cubes in water over their head, or gets a friend to do it, before nominating three people to either do the same or to donate.
Related: The pro-worker, pro-growth experiment in Greece is under threat | Senator Bernie Sanders The Vermont senator has long contemplated a presidential run and made repeated trips to states that hold early nominating contests like Iowa and New Hampshire.
Why are we writing about her? Barack Obama is nominating her to become the first female chair in the 100-year history of the Federal Reserve, the US central bank.
