Gutsy

Gov. Palin's service on the Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission is significant. First, it marks the beginning of what's become a very in-depth exposure to the intersection between government and the energy industry. Alaskans in general tend to be more attentive to energy issues because so much of their state's economy and their state government's budget depend on that industry. But Palin has been focused heavily on energy more or less continually since 2004 — a claim that neither Barack Obama, Joe Biden, or (for that matter) John McCain can make.

Second, although she'd been a reformer and opponent of government corruption/favoritism since her time as a Wasilla city councilman and then mayor, she significantly expanded those credentials — at enormous potential political risk — in her capacity as the Commisson's ethics officer.

In particular, she focused on ethical lapses by fellow Commissioner Randy Ruedrich, who was also (and unfortunately still is) the statewide GOP chairman. Ruedrich was refusing to complete and file disclosure reports that would have detailed his personal dealings with energy-related companies. When Reudrich ignored her complaints, she went to the state attorney-general, Gregg Renkes. When Renkes ignored her (and threatened her with prosecution if she became a public whistle-blower), she went to the GOP governor who'd appointed her, Frank Murkowski. Murkowski was then, of course, one of the troika of Grand Poobahs of Alaskan GOP politics, along with Congressman Don Young and Senator Ted Stevens.

When Murkowski ignored her too, however, Palin resigned. And she had every reason to believe at that point that her political career, on a statewide or larger stage, was dead...

Barack Obama mouths platitudes about how "he passed" ethics reform legislation in the U.S. Senate. In fact, that was done on a bipartisan basis in which he was only one of many senate sponsors, and it was at no risk to himself or his party. Palin, by contrast to Obama, actually put her entire political future on the line to take on political forces far better known and more powerful than she was, relying on nothing but her own integrity and, ultimately, the public's.