Alaska's lone, longtime congressman, Don Young, passed away last month, and now former Gov. Sarah Palin has announced an interest in running for his vacant seat.

According to the Daily Mail:

Former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin announced Friday that she's running for a seat in the House of Representatives in order to combat the 'far-left,' which she said is 'destroying the country.' 

Palin, 58, has joined a crowded field of nearly 40 candidates looking to fill the seat vacated by the late U.S. Rep. Don Young, whose death last month threw Alaskan politicians in a frenzy. 

In a statement, Palin said: 'Public service is a calling, and I would be honored to represent the men and women of Alaska in Congress, just as Rep. Young did for 49 years. 

'America is at a tipping point. As I've watched the far left destroy the country, I knew I had to step up and join the fight.' 

It couldn't be a better idea.

First, it's a powerful seat, given that Alaska's population is small, and like Wyoming, the state has two senators and just one representative.  That makes whoever wins the seat twice as powerful as the senators, so it's a fitting post for a former governor, not a step downward.

Young had the accumulated power that decades in office bring.  Palin doesn't have as much as Young, but she has some, along with a loyal base of followers.  What's more, unlike Young, she does have visibility, based on her run for vice president on a ticket with John McCain in 2008, and the subsequent public life, much of it very tabloidy, that followed.  A visible face for Alaska, one of the most battered states based on Joe Biden's energy production and drilling shutdowns, would be a good thing.  And it's important to note that Palin does focus on Alaska and its needs based on her term as governor.

Here's another thing: she'd probably be a very good congresswoman, based on her record as governor.  Back when I was an editorial writer for Investor's Business Daily, I interviewed Palin several times for the paper during her governorship, before she was famous and associated with McCain's presidential ticket.

What was she like?  Lively, sharp, full of facts, babbly and bubbly, extremely interested and engaged in the affairs of Alaska.  I recall asking her global warming questions, how the state's polar bears were faring, why she took on the oil companies for crony corruption, why she cared about opening Alaska to energy development, what her recent trip to Barrow was like, how she kept warm, what Alaskans eat given that not much typical farm fare grows there, how they deal with the high prices, what the ice road trucking is like, how they store moose and other big game they shoot in their freezers, and all kinds of stuff — both fun and serious topics.  I'd never talked to anyone from Alaska before, and I'd gotten a sense that Alaskans were wonderfully open and frank, the opposite of the "cagey" and self-protecting and keister-covering that you encounter in public relations–obsessed Washington.  All of the Alaskans had this quality.  Palin herself did, too and she was a breath of fresh air.

I did some digging, though — and asked around about her governing style with the local Alaskans — the bureaucrats, the low guys on the totem pole, the ordinary people.  Their verdict?  Glowing reviews from them of her executive style — sharp, organized, responsive.  That aspect of her record has never gotten much press, but it was what I found.

Palin's visibility and responsiveness to Alaska are a great thing for her state and should go a long way toward pushing Joe Biden to opening up America's abundant energy sector in Alaska or else shaming him something fierce for not doing it.  She'll be a good advocate for Alaska's needs and, broadly speaking, America's needs, too.

There's one other reason why a Palin seated in Congress would be a good thing — and it's sort of similar to many things that caused Americans to want to vote for President Trump.  Palin, recall, was a popular governor who was driven from office because she drove the left insane.  They hated her accent, they hated that she was pretty, they hated her large family, they hated that she was the mom of a handicapped child, and they threw one lawsuit after another to her, forcing to accumulate enormous legal bills, which she simply had to throw the towel in on as governor, leaving her office early.  They were grotesquely obsessed with her, making up fake stories about the motherhood of her youngest child, haranguing and harassing her, and one media clown actually moved in next in her in her home city of Wasilla in order to spy on her.  It was so foul.  It was as unfair as such things come.  They pushed her from office with this vileness, very likely disintegrated her family, and she eventually disappeared from public life, except for the tabloids constantly following her.

It felt like more than injustice to her; it felt like injustice to us.  Woe to any outsider with a different accent seeking public office — the hive would be all over her and try to destroy her. 

Sound like someone else we know?

But they didn't destroy her.  She's actually coming back now, showing that the media clown show didn't break her.  That's a justice of sorts.  It's too soon to say if Palin can win this race, but I believe she can.  She's a fiery voice of common sense in contrast to the lunacy and lies of the Washington swamp culture.  She'd also be just the person to take on the nonsensical gibberish of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, calling her right out when she spews a new round of socialist rubbish.  Palin herself seems to be targeting this in her campaign statement.  If so, excellent.  It may just be the right time for her, and I for one, would be happy to see her in public life again.

Image: Screen shot from Fox News video via shareable YouTube.