Palin Back to the Land of the Ice and the Snow

Her veep bid failed, Sarah Palin returns to being governor of Alaska

Sarah Palin enjoyed the comforts of her campaign plane one last time, flying home Wednesday to Alaska with her husband Todd.

"We are Alaskans!," she shouted to an adoring crowd on the tarmac of the Anchorage airport, reported the New York Times.

With a grueling campaign behind her, Palin now returns to the work of governing the state of Alaska. And her first order of business could be a sticky one: What to do about convicted felon Sen. Ted Stevens?

Ignoring calls for his resignation after being convicted on seven felony counts of failing to report gifts totaling more than $250,000, Stevens has vowed to hold onto his job.

Should Stevens relent and give up his seat or should his colleagues in the Senate elect to kick him out (an unlikely proposition), a replacement must be found. That job would fall to Gov. Palin.

No, Palin can't appoint herself to take over Stevens' seat, but there's a precedent for her to take it nonetheless.

In 1939, following the death of Sen. M.M. Logan, Kentucky's Gov. Happy Chandler worked out a deal with Lt. Gov. Keen Johnson. Chandler resigned as governor, allowing Johnson to elevate to the position, who in turn appointed Chandler to the vacated Senate seat.

Who knows, maybe Palin could be on The Hill before Barack Obama's in the White House.

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