I’ve read and listened to a lot of talk about Sarah’s immediate future. For now, she just needs to stay in Alaska and lay low. Here are five good reasons:

• Keep her out of the Senate. The Senate is poison. If she is in the Senate, she will have to cast votes on complex omnibus bills and take positions on controversial issues. Unlike Obama, the media will be hostile to her and hold her accountable fore her voting record regardless of how she casts her votes. Traditionally, taking positions on state specific issues is not nearly as dangerous. People understand that individual state issues are local and nuanced.

• She can generate press on her own terms. She is the de facto leader of the party and she is a star. She does not have to angle for attention. Other politicians have to spin and work for media coverage. Sarah’s doesn’t. She can retreat to Alaska and still be the voice of the party. When a major issue or controversy arises and it is necessary or smart for her to voice an opinion, she can get press whenever she wants. The media may be hostile, but she is a huge ratings prize. When she’s ready, the media will drool to get her. She has all the leverage. She can do Oprah, Beck, King, or the View if she wants. She can go on Meet the Press and the Sunday Morning shows. She probably has a direct line to personalities like Laura, Rush and Hannity. She doesn’t need to the limelight. She is the limelight.

• Experience is a non-issue. She doesn’t need to beef up her foreign policy credentials or any other credentials anymore than Reagan, Clinton or Bush, all of whom were only Governors. By 2012, she will have been governor for six years and a vice presidential candidate in a historical presidential race. She has plenty of time to bone up on foreign policy issues on her own. She doesn’t have to do a song and dance for Washington think tanks. Experience will be a non-issue in 2012 and those who bring it up will look stupid.

• Protect her outside the beltway image at all cost. Her image as a beltway outsider is invaluable and a huge source of her allure and charm. If anything, she’s been surrounded by Washingtonians and been on the campaign trail too long. She needs to wash her hands of all the backroom shenanigans, weasals, wonks, spinmeisters and handlers. She needs to stay in Alaska. She needs to stay real and quirky. She needs to be a good mom. She needs to go hunt some moose and fish for some salmon. She needs to surround herself with the regular folks.

• Importantly, she has the loyal support of the base. She can work to build that support, but it’s not imperative right now. She’s already won us over. We all know and understand that it is in her best interest and our best interest that she lay low; be a good governor; be a good mom; stay above the fray; let other Republicans take the bullets; and stay free and clear of that stench on the Potomac.