EXPANDING OPERATION LEPER.

Redstate and company might need to add a few names to that "Operation Leper" list, now that the Republican Governor's Association has snubbed Sarah Palin:

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford was voted RGA chairman, taking over the top job from Texas Gov. Rick Perry who will now serve as finance chairman. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is vice-chairman, while Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will serve as chair for the annual RGA gala, and Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue will head up the recruitment effort.

Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will also sit on the RGA’s executive committee.

“Republican Governors are natural leaders who will find solutions to our nation’s challenges and bring back the Party,” Sanford said in a statement.

Not on the list? Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who also attended the Miami meeting.

The choice of Palin was made for transparently political reasons, undermined somewhat by her lack of qualifications but mostly by her manifest ignorance about issues facing the country. High profile Republicans went along with the farce because they were trying to win an election. Now that it's over, their contempt for her is showing.

What's bizarre is that the base seems to have genuinely believed that Palin was smart, well-informed, and came off like someone who was ready to be president. They were such true believers that they're still enthusiastic about her, long after the leaders of their party have stopped pretending. Even though the corpse is dead, the legs are still twitching.

--A. Serwer