And the Palin Meter dips accordingly

When we last checked in on Sarah Palin, she was acting something like a candidate, jabbing at political foes, including Barack Obama, and weighing in on the constitutionality of a Supreme Court decision. In a similar spirit, she crowed on Twitter this weekend when news broke that Democrats had given up on confirming Obama's pick for head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

But complicating the picture, Palin took to FoxNews on Saturday to tangle with a different sort of rival—Kathy Griffin, who is set to portray a Palin-esque character on Glee and whom Palin called  "a 50-year-old adult bully, a has-been comedian."  Taking potshots at fellow reality TV stars is standard operating procedure within the genre, of course. But the fact that Palin is operating within reality TV conventions must say something about the focus of her ambitions. Candidate Palin, in '08, took in stride rather gracefully Tina Fey's impression of her; celebrity Palin prefers to beef with those who mock her. The meter dips to 40 percent.

Previous Palin Meter Readings:

Friday, March 3, 2011: 45 percent

Tuesday, March 1, 2011: 51 percent